Absolute Power
by djinni14
Summary: This story is a variation of my "The Bear and I". It is not necessary to read The Bear and I first. This is a stand alone story. It is a story about shifters. People that have the capability to live as an animal and a human. - NOW COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 1_

"And where do you think you're going?" His father sounded angry yet again which was nothing new for him.

Rick thought it was obvious considering what he had on and what he was carrying. "Hunting. You approved this activity because it gave me a chance to feel the power of taking life," Rick reminded him. All that did was get his father to growl at him. Being told anything wasn't something he accepted from anyone and that included his son. Or more importantly, specifically his son.

"Except you never bring anything back." He went out hunting and never came back with anything to prove that he had killed anything.

"You wouldn't eat any of it if I did. Nor would Mother." The idea that he would eat a kill that he himself hadn't killed was beneath him. Far beneath him.

His father growled at him again. He really hated it when his son talked back to him. He needed to learn to be hard, but not hard to him. Not that he wanted him to be all mushy toward him. He was his son, not some weak female.

"Just make sure you kill anyone who is trespassing on our land," he ordered his son.

"You mean _your _land. And if you want them dead why don't _you _ kill them," Rick said even though he knew the answer already.

His father wound up and hit him as hard as he could using the back of his hand. It caused Rick to lose his balance and stumble against the wall. He refused to touch his cheek even if it did hurt. Though he did look up at him and growl. He was getting close to taking all he could take from his father.

"That's right, get mad. Show me what you're made of." He was more than willing to rip his own clothes off and send his son to the hospital once more. He knew his son would recover, however it would teach him who was in charge around here.

Rick was saved from responding when his mother yelled, "JACKSON!"

It wasn't that his mother was any less hard on him since she wasn't. She also wasn't totally immune to his father's outbursts. But she was more likely to be spared than he was. It was just that she probably wanted something from his father. It allowed him to slip out the door. "I'll be back when I'm back, Father." Rick took off running for the nearby forest so he could get lost in it.

Having his mother need something turned out to be a blessing. As much as his father likely wanted to race after him and show him who was in charge one more time, having his mother need him for something spared him.

Rick was finally deep enough into the woods that surrounded their home that he stopped to look back. Even from there he could still see parts of the house. _House. _ The the word didn't do it justice. It was a limestone mansion of just over twenty-one thousand square feet of living space and that didn't count the twelve car garage. Six garages on either side of the car courtyard. It had six bedrooms and six bathrooms. Not that anyone ever came to stay for a visit. Most everyone ran the second they were dismissed by his father. Regardless, each and every room was filled with furniture and well maintained, including his room.

There was a small separate building that housed the staff of six. They were required to clean every room daily and if they missed something either his father or mother would inform them of the error of their ways. None of them were allowed to quit. The only way to quit was to either leave in a body bag or become too old to work. Then they were thrown to the curb.

There was an airfield nearby that housed their personal jet, a _Boeing 757 Jet Airliner,_ plus the house had its own helipad for an _AgustaWestland Apache AH1 Helicopter_. His father couldn't fly either of them so he had pilots for both who had no other job and were on call twenty-four hours a day and had one hour to reach their craft for a flight. The consequences of being late were severe.

As Rick went deeper and deeper into the woods he was betting his father was in one of the garages so he could play with his car collection. Rick had seen them but hadn't dared even touch them. He might be his son, but that didn't mean his father wouldn't skin him alive if he so much as left a hair on any of his precious and expensive car collection which currently consisted of a _1962 Ferrari 250 GTO__,__a __1964 Ferrari 275 GTB/C Speciale__,__a __1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 N.A.R.T. Spyder__,__a __1957 Ferrari 335 S__, and a__ 1956 Ferrari 290 MM._

Then there was the space for six more cars on the other side. Inside those garages were: _a__ Rhino GX __with__ a 6.7L V8 __d__iesel engine. _It was bulletproof and could withstand the hit from any known RPG. It got used a lot when Jackson needed to travel even down to the air strip. A_Holland & Holland Range Rover__ with__ a supercharged 5.0-liter V8, 550 horsepower. _The interior had espresso and tan leather upholstery with French walnut veneers. A _Karlman King __that__had__ a Ford F-550 chassis, 6.8-liter V10. _It boasted a retractable TV, refrigerator, pop-out tables and coffee machine. And an_ Aston Martin Rapide, 5.9-liter V12. _It was a birthday gift to his mother, Martha, from his father, Jackson. It was the only one that was hers.

He hadn't really gone there to hunt. He got more than enough food at home. They had food from far and wide and all over the world. Neither his mother or father cooked, however the staff was pretty good. He had even spent a little time with them. They were the closest thing he had to what he could call friends.

Rick took a different route each time. This time he crawled up and over a large bank of boulders. Then he trudged up a stream for a while to disrupt his scent. His father might be able to follow him by scent alone. Though he wasn't doubting that if his father wanted to find him he would hire a team of dogs to track him down. What he would do to him after he found him was something Rick didn't want to think about.

His route was taking some time and it was going to be dark soon. So he backtracked to find that stream again. Then he found a clearing and dropped his backpack to fish out his tent. It didn't feel like rain but he chose not to risk it. So the rain fly went on the tent. He dug a trench all the way around his tent so that the rain would drain into the creek. He would love a fire except he was still too close to the house and a fire would be a beacon for his father, so he had a dark camp. He'd planned ahead and had brought something to eat that didn't require heating or refrigeration.

Once the sun was down he sat and listened to the sounds of the forest. The sound was soothing. At least until he heard something. That had him looking that way but he didn't hear, see, or smell anything. Still he thought it would be safer if he shifted. He went into his tent, stripped, and came back out naked. It took a few seconds and it hurt like hell, but soon he was in his animal form. This form had better eyesight, better hearing and better smell.

_Bengal Tiger: __t__he normal male tiger was about 3.6 feet at the shoulder and weighed about 490 pounds. _Rick, though, came in at about 4.6 feet at the shoulder and weighed in excess of 610 pounds.

He wasn't really thinking of his father any longer even if his father's tiger was roughly his size. Rick listened, looked, and sniffed intensely. But whatever had alerted him in human form eluded him in animal form. He lay down but remained alert. While it might simply be some of the forest's wildlife, he wasn't discounting poachers being on his father's land. This place was definitely not his. His mother had some say in what the interior looked like, but mostly it was all his father. Still his father had one saving grace: he was always busy. He flew out and came back a lot.

Then he smelled something; he turned his head and sniffed even harder. It wasn't one of the house's guards. He didn't detect any metal from his weapon. In fact it was anything but that smell. It was enough that it had him up and moving slowly. If he was going to come up on it without scaring it away he needed to be careful. A small problem was his size, he wasn't small.

He stuck his nose to the ground. _"Human!" _It definitely wasn't wildlife. Whoever it was was moving carefully. He just didn't understand why. Unless… _"Hunting for nocturnal wildlife"_

He was happy with that since it meant he or she wasn't a poacher. Poachers went for large animals. Hunting at night was hunting for small animals. _"Better not be after a skunk." _He wasn't interested in smelling skunk all night and all day tomorrow.

Then he came across a smell of metal. He carefully looked around with his mind off of whoever it was. Then he found it. It was a metal trap. A small one. _"They__'__re checking traps." _They weren't actually out there hunting.

He knew enough so he went back to his tent, lay down, and went back to listening, looking, and smelling while still a tiger. They looked to be heading away and not toward him so he felt safe enough. Finally satisfied, he shifted back into his human form and went into his tent to sleep.

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Come morning he broke camp and packed it all away save for some jerky to munch on as he walked. From there he chose to walk straight to where he wanted to go. It was going to take him the better part of the day to reach his destination but that was fine with him.

Along the way he checked one of his traps. The first one he found had been tripped but it was empty so he simply reset it. It had happened before so he thought nothing of it. It was meant for a small animal so he guessed a larger animal found it and tripped it. Though as he checked the ground he found a human footprint. In fact there were a number of them. "Hmm!" He looked around. "My visitor from last night maybe?" He checked the print again and found it was relatively fresh.

One of his father's guards or someone he sent to find him wouldn't be stealing game from his traps. "Unless he's out here living off the land." Suddenly his bringing his bow might mean something. "Except anyone my father would send would have a gun." A gun – especially a rifle – against a bow and arrow didn't sound fair. Not that his father cared about fair.

He moved on to the next one and this one was empty but still set. He also didn't find any human tracks. He left it and moved on to the next one. This one had a raccoon that looked like it had been there for at least two days. It was still live since its leg was caught and boy was it mad!

Rick pulled a knife and dispatched it quickly and mercifully. "Thank you for your life. You will be my evening meal tonight." He even had a tried and true recipe to use for it.

He pulled out a bag from his pack and got to work cleaning it and bleeding it right there. He was going to move his trap so he stayed right where he was. Once done he wrapped it up, picked up his trap, and continued moving.

He was getting really hungry so he started foraging for other things to eat. His dinner tonight was going to be big enough to satisfy his growing hunger.

He knew he was close when he spotted some of the stumps from the trees he had cut down. He had worked really hard not to cut down the trees in the area and end up clearing the area around it. He'd wanted trees in the area and not a large clearing. It had meant dragging trees a long distance in some cases, but it had been worth it.

Then he spotted it and it looked really good to him. It wasn't much, and it wasn't all that big, but it was his.

He had spent months cutting, chopping, and preparing the logs to be stacked. The real trick had been cutting the notches so one log would lock onto the next and so on. Then some grasses and mud filled in the gaps. Making the fireplace had taken even more work and had been first. He had used every rock in the area he could find to make it. The shocking part had been the front door – the only door for the entire place. He had cut down a tree and then sawed the boards to make it out of. He had no choice but to bring hinges and a door handle made of black iron with him from home. Hiding it had been easy.

He opened the door since it didn't have a lock and went inside. It was a simple one room cabin. The floor was dirt, sadly, but he couldn't get what he would have liked all the way out there without someone noticing. The roof was straw thatching and a careful look over the floor showed he didn't yet have a leak in it.

He had a shelf that held all of his canned food. His meal needed to be cut up first and he had a nice cast iron pot for that to go in. Once that was done he went to his bag to pull out the food he'd brought with him on this trip. Going to set it on his shelf, he noticed that he was missing food. It wasn't much, just one can, but still he noticed. That had him checking the floor for prints.

It took him no time at all to see that he'd had a guest. His pot hadn't shown any use so he checked his bed. It was clean enough to sleep on but it was just a bit off. "They slept in my bed." Now that pissed him off a little. The food he didn't mind. If someone really need food he didn't mind. But his bed? That was going too far.

That had him going back out the front door to look around. He didn't see anything amiss and didn't hear anything suspicious so he went back inside and closed the door.

His little cabin had two windows that he'd hauled there one at a time which had also been a pain in more ways than one. They were operable and since it was warm outside he opened them to get some cross ventilation.

Then he went back to making his dinner. One raccoon, deboned, one large onion, two stalks of celery, one large green bell pepper, four bay leaves, one can of cream of mushroom soup, one can French onion soup, salt and pepper, and water. He left it on the fire while he went to the closest stream to get a lot more water for tomorrow.

When he was back he worked out that he was going to have to do some chopping tomorrow so he would have more wood for the fireplace. He really didn't mind the work since he planned on staying there for a few days.

It began to get dark so he pulled out a lantern and lit so he could see to cook.

Once he was satisfied that the meat was cooked through and that it smelled pretty good, he broke up the fire a little so that it would just simmer and keep the pot warm for tomorrow. He didn't have a refrigerator or freezer so anything he cooked had to be eaten quickly. Dinner became breakfast and possibly lunch.

With bowl in hand he went outside, sat on the porch, and looked out into the forest. It was calm and peaceful and it was his. Well technically the land was his father's but the cabin was his. It was a really good place to just sit back and enjoy life away from his parents as well as away from all the politics.

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Rick woke to find his fire was almost out. He added what wood he had to it to build it back up so he could eat raccoon for breakfast. He also went outside with his axe to start chopping.

The only thing that slowed him down was finding enough to chop. He could and would cut down a tree somewhere. It was just that he couldn't use it in the fireplace since it was green wood and that meant it wasn't good wood. That tree would be next year's wood.

Still he needed to stop for breakfast and make sure it wasn't burning.

He was soon back on the wood patio that had a small amount of cover and looked out over his realm while he ate. It really was peaceful there. He knew he would need to go back eventually, back to his parents. He had a dream but he just didn't think he was ready for it yet. He really needed to ascertain just how much power his father had. Could he, or more accurately, _was_ he able to chase him anywhere he went? He had a number of things in place but really needed to learn a few things before implementing his plan.

Since he was still hungry after walking there with little food and had done some chopping he went back inside for more and emptied his pot. He would clean it out later. For now he just wanted to enjoy his solitude and the quiet of the forest. It was peaceful.


	2. Chapter 2

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 2_

Rick had enjoyed his first day in his little cabin. Yes, it had taken a fair amount of time to build it since he had done it all alone. However, it was a good thing; he was strong and didn't mind the work.

Breakfast had consisted of what remained of the raccoon stew. While a deer would be nice it was really more than he needed. Smaller animals would have to do. But he needed more than meat so today was going to be a gathering day. Thankfully he knew where most everything was located. So with bag in hand he left his little home and went out to forage and check his traps.

He only had three out this direction; the first one was empty and not tripped. Since it wasn't even tripped he picked it up to move it. His second trap had nothing also, though it had been tripped. "Either they are getting smarter or I'm not alone." Once again it had him standing still and looking around. When after several minutes passed and he hadn't heard, seen, or smelled anyone, he reset the trap and left it.

Thankfully his third trap had something and it was still in it. After dispatching it and thanking it for its life, he threw a line up in a tree and hung it so he could bleed it and gut it. Once he was done he bagged it and moved on to set his trap. Satisfied, he moved to where he could start foraging.

He reached a blackberry patch and got started picking what remained since it was very late in the season. The plants had enough for a serving or two and were mostly easy to pick. Save for the thorns that were incredibly sharp and could rip your skin open easily.

With a little work he picked every berry and needed to move on. He didn't know how they got there but he knew of a field of potatoes so he was soon on the ground digging. He didn't need many so he only took a few. Satisfied, he moved to his next spot. There he found wild green onions. Then he moved to a walnut tree. This nut was easy to reach since there were a lot lying on the ground. The main problem was getting to the nut meant cracking open the green outer shell that exposed a black goo on the inside that surrounded the nut. It was this goo that got all over your hand and stained the skin quickly.

Since there was a lot he filled his last bag with walnuts and soon had black hands. He would clean up when he got home. Along the way he ran across a hazelnut tree that he didn't remember ever seeing. Problem was he was already full and didn't have the room. "I'll be back for you later." Nuts were a good thing to have.

Once he was back home he got to work on his next meal.

First his possum had to soak in salt water until late tonight. He had the celery, wild onions, and bay leaves. He only had just so many beef bouillon cubes and the one package of stuffing. So if he got another possum he was going to have to do something else with it.

Since his possum needed to soak and his hands were still black, he took two of his three bags and headed for that hazelnut tree.

Like the walnut tree this tree was full of them and he had one bag full in almost no time.

It also meant he needed more water so he took his plastic container and went to his stream to fill it. While he filled it he saw dark clouds just coming over the mountains. It meant it was likely to rain tonight. The rain would keep him mostly trapped inside but it meant tomorrow was going to smell really fresh and clean. Yet another reason why he liked being there.

The only downside to being out there meant he didn't have power so he hadn't brought his laptop. He could get a little done if his place had power. Problem was the trees were tall and tight to his home. So solar panels, assuming he could get them down here and installed, would do him little good. Still he would think of something to keep himself occupied. Especially if his roof started to leak.

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Rick was sitting out on his porch as he let his possum soak. Movement caught his attention. When it moved again he saw that it was a deer. A young one by the size of it. Something that small he could use. Though since he had meat he let it be and watched it jump away, out of sight.

Another movement caught his attention only this time it was a bird. A large hawk from the look of it. It landed in a tree and studied the area. It was probably looking for small game and there was plenty of that around there.

He put his attention back on the ground and just watched.

He was betting what he was doing wasn't for a lot of people but those people didn't live his life. Sitting out in what was basically the middle of nowhere, in front of a log cabin that he had built himself. It was a bit small but it was all he needed.

It was quiet and peaceful and he was content in his own mind. He didn't have to have someone to talk with. Actually, thanks to his parents, he had very few friends. He'd made friends with the staff but they were scared to death of his father with good reason.

Outside of the staff he knew a few people and that was all thanks to his father in a round about way. His father didn't know them but he did. He just had to be careful when he talked to them or his father would find out about them and either threaten them to stay away from him or pay them to do so. His father had pounded that into him. People had a price; it was just a question of what that price was and if you didn't want to pay it you found another way. Out in the forest he couldn't talk to any of them, however. Still he tried not to talk to them too often. The more often he did the higher the risk of his father finding out.

It was going to be dark in a few hours and if it was going to rain he needed to get more wood inside because it probably also meant the temperature would drop at night. His fireplace was the only source of heat. He was only there for summer until his father dragged them all back home. Where his parents were now was only their summer house.

It took a couple of hours but he now had half of a wall inside almost filled to the roof with cut wood. More than enough to last him while he was there. The rest of the wood stayed outside until it aged and dried out since much of it was green.

He still needed a couple of hours to soak his possum and he also needed to start cutting up what was going to go with his possum.

That was when he heard it, a thunderclap. The storm he thought he saw earlier was arriving and it sounded like it was going to be a big one. It sounded like he was going to find out if his straw thatched roof was going to stand up to wind and a torrential downpour of rain.

He stopped preparing his dinner and went out to have a look. Sure enough the trees were blowing and bending as if they were threatening to snap and fall. Several were easily close enough that if they fell the right way they would smash his home and bring the outside inside. He would be forced to abandon it and go home earlier than he had planned.

He watched for a while then went back inside so he could start dinner. He cut up the possum, placed it in his pot of water, added all the other ingredients, and built up the fire. Now he just needed to wait an hour for it to cook. He'd use some of the stock from the pot once the possum was done and mix it in with the packaged stuffing. He had a heavy pottery bowl that he would set into the embers to keep the stuffing hot.

It was only then that he noticed the rain had arrived and that it had also gotten quite dark save for the light from the fire. The light from the fire was mostly good enough but he lit a lantern and hung it from the ceiling. Between the two of them his little home was now well lit.

He had a twin bed, a chair that he'd made himself that wasn't that good-looking for all that it was sturdy enough to hold him, a tiny table that he had also made himself, and a set of shelves to put his canned food on.

He had gotten used to the dirt floor and wished he had been able to put down a wood floor. But since he was only going to be there a short time each year it was fine as it was.

He was stirring his pot when suddenly the front door flew open and slammed against the wall. It showed that the wind was really blowing. It was just that when he jerked his head to look, it wasn't the wind that had thrown the door open. It was a person! A woman who was soaked to the bone to be precise.

He watched as she grabbed the door and slammed it closed. Then she turned and shrieked when she spotted him. She immediately turned back to open the door. She clearly hadn't been expecting him.

"NO! Wait! I promise I won't hurt you and it's raining hard out there." Rick didn't even move to reinforce his statement. He watched as she stopped and turned away from the door to look at him. She was dripping wet. Her hair was really short and she was tall for a woman. Given that she was soaking wet it wasn't hard to tell that she had breasts since she was wearing a bra.

Rick didn't move. "I swear I won't hurt you." He raised his hands to show that all he had in his hand was a spoon to stir his pot with. Next he started to worry that she was standing there dripping on his dirt floor. He saw she had a long bow and a quiver of arrows. Thankfully she only had the bow in her hand. She didn't have an arrow nocked.

"You should probably get out of those wet clothes before you catch cold." Rick stood up slowly, seeing that she hadn't moved an inch. He reached out and grabbed a coil of lightweight rope that was hanging on the wall, strung it across the room, and secured it. "You can use the comforter and hang your clothes there until they dry. I'll step outside on the porch." It was the only place he could go to give her some privacy.

He watched her step away to give him access to the door. As he passed her by he felt it. She was a shifter like he was. That told him that she was most likely on the run. Shifters were hunted planetwide. They were hated, hunted, and as far as he knew, almost extinct. You survived by hiding or if you were his father, you had power to protect your family and make them pay a heavy price if they pursued you.

He didn't want to scare her so he opened the door, stepped outside, and closed the door. The wind was gusting and it was raining really hard. He had a tiny spot just in front of the door where he didn't get wet much.

She was soaking wet and had been cursing that she'd allowed herself to be caught in a thunderstorm. Home was about two miles away. She knew of a tiny cabin that she had found earlier, though, and had actually stayed in once. It was much closer. By the time she reached it she was soaked to the skin. There was no part of her that wasn't wet. The second she opened the door she lost control of it thanks to the wind. The strong gust ripped it out of her hands, opened as far as it could, and slammed into the wall.

She got it closed and turned and saw him and was scared out of her mind. Then he begged her not to run. She had no real idea why she didn't, but she tilted her head and looked at him. He was sitting next to a pot hanging over the fire in the fireplace. She saw a bowl nestled in the embers but she couldn't see what was in it. She also caught a whiff of what he was cooking and her stomach growled; she'd been out hunting and hadn't eaten anything. It was yet another reason why she was mad at herself for letting herself get caught in a storm.

She knew everything that was inside this cabin since she had searched it completely last time.

Then he suggested that she get out of her wet clothes. That almost had her running for it again. Still wary, she eyed him as he strung up a line for her to hang her wet clothes on near the fire. Then he offered her the use of the comforter on the bed.

She moved out of the way to let him go outside. She looked around and saw something that caught her interest. It definitely hadn't been there last time. It looked like a bow, however, it was totally different. Hers was very simple while this one was anything but. Then she saw his arrows. Lifting one out she found the shaft was made of a metal and really strong. Hers were wood and made by hand. She used feathers she'd found to make the fletching. His were soft but felt different. They also looked different. His bow was also heavier and yet it was amazingly balanced.

She couldn't resist putting one of his arrows in place and pulled back on the string. It pulled easily and the feel of it was really different. She put it all back where she found it.

She stripped, squeezed as much water as possible out of her clothes in one of the corners, then hung them up to dry. Stark naked, she wrapped herself in the comforter. That was when she felt it. He was a shifter like she was! Her parents had drilled into her that shifters were hated and hunted. Normals wanted them to be extinct. Since she felt he was a shifter that told her that he was on the run as well. It also helped her feel a little better about the situation. She at least had a couple of weapons where all he had was a wooden spoon.

She thought about sitting on the bed but decided not to give him any ideas. She couldn't sit on his chair since he was cooking. She went over to his pot, looked in, and took a good whiff of what he was cooking. "Possum." It was just that it smelled different. Not like what her mother made. Something was different, but it smelled good.

She was all wrapped up and her clothes were hanging on the line. She had looked the place over and had found his bow and a really nice-looking knife. Where he got those two things escaped her.

She couldn't stall any longer. "You can come in now." She chose to stand in front of his bow and knife so he couldn't reach them easily. She had to put her bow and knife down so she could keep hold of the comforter.

Rick heard her and came back inside. Her hair was still wet but he had a towel she could use to fix that. He didn't fail to notice that she was standing in front of his only weapons. It told him she was smart and didn't trust him. She looked kind of cute and sweet standing there holding onto that comforter. He also saw all of her clothes hanging on his clothes line. Including her bra and panties. He realized she was completely naked under that comforter. He had no intention of trying to touch her. That would destroy what little trust in him that she presently had.

They needed to know each other's names. "I'm Rick."

"Kate." She looked him over. He was in shorts that showed off his strong legs. His t-shirt was a little tight on him which only accentuated his chest, shoulders, and arms. He looked really good.

A lot like her dad, he obviously hadn't shaved in a couple of days. Though on him it looked really good. He was truly handsome, not to mention built. It was the fact that she knew he was a shifter that she felt comfortable with him.

It did leave her with a problem. Talking about being shifters was not something she was used to. In fact the opposite was true. They were in hiding and just trying to stay alive.

Rick took a towel off his shelf and started to hand it to her. But that meant she would have to let go of the comforter so he put it on the bed instead. "To dry your hair if you want." He avoided her clothes, sat down, and began stirring his dinner again.

When he looked again she was struggling to keep the comforter in place while trying to dry her hair with one hand while sitting on the bed.

He didn't know if she was his earlier guest but he was betting it was. "Have you been here before?" Rick asked.

She knew she should lie and say no, but he was a shifter and would be able to tell she wasn't telling the truth. "Yes. It was closer than home so I came here. Sorry about using some of your food." It was in a can which told her he had been to a town to buy it. Something they didn't dare do. They lived completely off the land.

"Don't worry about it, I can always bring more the next time I come. Use what you need as often as you need. I built this place to be used. You're welcome to use it, too." Rick was more than willing to share it with her. Shifters were on the run all over the planet. If he could save even one of them he would.

"You built this?" Kate looked around. They weren't round logs, they'd been squared off with an axe and the corners were locked together. There was mud mixed with straw in the gaps. She had already learned where the bathroom was outside.

The roof was sloped a little and made of straw thatch similar to what her home looked like. This place was just a lot more solid. If he was going to leave, she was going to bring her family here to live instead. If was a lot better than their place. It even had a real bed and you could cook _inside!_

Then her stomach gave her away. She started to cover it with a hand to muffle the sound, except that let the comforter slip, showing her bare shoulders. She quickly grabbed it again, holding it in place.

"I have more than enough food in the pot. There's another bowl and spoon you can use." He pointed at them on his shelf. "It needs to cook for about another hour or so. Have you had possum before?" This was going to be different if she hadn't.

Kate nodded. "My mom's made it. Yours smells different, though." She still couldn't place what it was.

"There are bay leaves, wild onions, celery, and bouillon cubes in the pot with it," Rick explained. "After soaking it in salt water for almost a full day. And there'll be stuffing, too."

Kate had watched her mother cook a number of things. Whatever salt water was, it was different. "What cubes?" She had never heard of either of those things.

That had Rick getting up to find the box of salt and the tiny jar he had with a few cubes still inside it. He handed both of them to her, returned to his seat, and tried to not look threatening.

Kate read the box, and while she understood all of the words thanks to her parents teaching her, it still didn't make a whole lot of sense. Opening the jar, a smell hit her straight away. She had never smelled anything like it. Inside she found these little red cubes. Pulling one out she found that whatever it was it was in a wrapping of some kind. Unwrapping it she found a really dark brown cube. She scratched it and sniffed. That only reinforced that she had never smelled this before.

"Where did you get these?" The answer was obvious even to her, but she couldn't stop herself from asking.

"My parents, technically. They bought those and the other things in town." Which was a white lie since neither of his parents would be caught dead doing any shopping. That was what the staff was for. Shopping for anything was beneath both of them.

What he said told Kate that he had parents, she just didn't know where they were since he was clearly living alone. Then her stomach betrayed her yet again. She had to admit that she really was hungry. She almost always was. She wasn't the only one who went hunting or foraging, though. It was just that finding what they needed was getting harder and harder to find.


	3. Chapter 3

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 3_

Kate had let him serve some of his dinner into a bowl and while sitting on his bed she let him hand it to her with a spoon in it. She decided to keep a hand on the comforter to hold it in place. It was just to eat it, she was going to need both hands. Then she watched as he moved his little table over to her so she could put it down and eat while holding onto his comforter.

It was clearly hot so she blew on it before tasting it. Then she took the whole spoonful followed by another after blowing on it. Her eyes opened wide in surprise. It was actually pretty good, better than her mother's, actually. Not that she would ever tell her that.

"Like it?" Rick had been watching her for a reaction. He'd never cooked for anyone before. He only had to get himself to like what he cooked.

"It's good." She wasn't lying either. The meat was literally falling off the bone and it and everything else was sitting in a bowl of stock.

She was also done in no time. She didn't want to ask for more and didn't dare get up to get it herself or risk losing control of the comforter. However, she was saved.

"Want some more? I have plenty. We'll even have enough left over for breakfast." The possum had proved to be bigger than the raccoon of earlier.

"Please." She was still hungry. He dished up some of the stuffing for her. She took a bite and groaned as the flavor burst on her tongue.

Rick was on his second bowl while Kate was done and her bowl was sitting empty on the tiny table. She watched him eat and looked the place over again. She didn't have any trouble working out that it was still raining. Meaning she was still trapped. Just that it wasn't starting to feel like a trap.

"Where are your parents? …In general terms," Rick quickly added since shifters were in hiding if they lived at all.

"About two miles from here. Your place was closer. I was hunting – following a deer for us – and wasn't watching the sky." She had screwed up and been caught in the downpour. "Where are your parents? …In general terms." He was a shifter and they were both skirting around that fact.

"Almost three miles, uh…that way." Rick had to orient himself before he pointed.

Kate tried to think about what was that way. She had gotten pretty far a couple of times. Then a stunned look skated across her face. There was only one thing in that direction. What she had seen wasn't a house, it was way beyond that. Did he really mean there? If he lived there why was he here?

Rick saw it play across her face. "You've seen it haven't you? A really huge building made of stone with lots and lots of glass."

Kate started shaking her head. She hadn't seen anything! Nothing at all! Then she nodded her head softly. It was no use; she sucked at lying. "You live there? With your parents?" That made no sense at all to her.

"Why am I out here in this dump, you mean?" he asked.

Kate began to shake her head. This place wasn't a dump. It was better than what they had by a long shot. Then she nodded.

Rick thought about just what to say. Then he made a decision. "It's easier if I show you." He stood up, reached behind his head, and pulled off his t-shirt.

Kate felt her heart speed up. His chest was impressive. Then a new thought hit her. _OH, GOD! He was going to rape her! She really should have known better than to stay there._

Instead he walked up to her and Kate clutched the comforter even tighter to her. It was the only barrier she had. Then he turned his back to her. That was when she saw them. She sucked in a breath. His back had marks all over it. They crisscrossed his skin from just below his shoulder blades to the waistband on his shorts. She tentatively reached out her hand, stroked one of them, and felt his muscles tighten at her touch. She hated the idea that she had just caused him pain.

"Do they hurt?" They sure looked like they should hurt. She was amazed that he wasn't crying from the pain he had to be in. She knew she would be. None of them were red or raw-looking, though; they all were white. More scars than recent injuries.

She watched him walk back to his chair and put his shirt back on to hide them. "I don't notice them unless I'm doing something to aggravate them. I haven't actually seen them in months." He had avoided using a mirror to look at them of late.

"Who did that to you?" He was a shifter. Had he been captured and tortured before escaping? It was the only thing that came to her mind as a reason.

"My father." He swallowed hard then continued, "My father gave them to me." She was the first person outside of the staff that even knew of them let alone had seen them.

Kate felt her mouth fall open. It was just too big of a shock. "Your…father!? WHY?" Her father would never do that to her. He had never even lifted a finger against her. He'd yelled at her when she deserved it for doing something stupid, but he had never touched her except to hug her and kiss her head or cheek. Neither had her mother. They were a family.

Rick sighed and decided just how much he could tell her without scaring her off. "My father's strict with everyone, including my mother, from time to time. He's trying to make me tough, to ready me to take over the family business. The world's a rough place and I'm supposed to be just as rough and vicious as it is."

"And he did **that**?!" That made no sense to her.

"Every time I questioned what he was saying or trying to do early on, his response was to whip me. I was not to question what he was trying to teach me. I was simply supposed to do it and learn. But what I learned was to hate him and never question him to his face," Rick said which was more than he'd planned on telling her.

Kate bit her lower lip. Her life was hard but his life sounded a whole lot worse. She at least had loving parents. "What about your mother?" Surely she stood up for him…hadn't she?

"Mother approves. She's never laid a finger against me physically, however, she does approve," Rick admitted since he was spilling his life in front of her. She was a shifter so maybe that was why he was so willing to talk.

Kate couldn't believe such a thing was possible. Abusive parents were something she didn't comprehend. "I'm sorry, so sorry." She felt for him. It helped explain why he was out here. Being a shifter was a tough life, even for him it seemed.

"Your parents." She still couldn't believe it. It just wasn't possible.

Rick reached up and felt her pants. They were still damp. "Not dry yet. And it sounds like it's still raining. Not a good time to go hunting or checking traps anyway." No one would be out looking for food in this mess. "You can have the bed for the night. I'll figure out something." He wasn't sure just what, but he would come up with something.

Kate didn't want to take his bed. But she didn't want to go out into the rain, either. He'd been really kind to her so far and he was a shifter. "Thanks." She lay down and adjusted the comforter to make sure she was totally covered. Even her feet.

She watched him as he worked to keep the fire burning but not overly so. Then he got up and came her way. At first she thought he was either going to adjust the comforter a little or maybe, just possibly, he was going to kiss her. Instead he picked up his little table and moved it closer to his chair.

She was suddenly conflicted as to what she had wanted him to do. If he **had** kissed her it would have been her very first real kiss. Though was that what she had really wanted him to do?

She watched him stir his pot until she finally lost her fight to stay awake. It was a real bed; she had only heard about them and never actually slept in one before. It was totally different and really nice.

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Kate slowly opened her eyes open and tried to figure out just where she was. She was still in his cabin. She could still smell what she'd eaten last night. Looking around she saw everything but him. All her clothes were right where she had left them. Surely they were dry by now. Since she didn't see him she got up and made sure the comforter was still secure around her. Feeling her clothes told her that they were indeed dry.

She really didn't want to drop the comforter on the dirt floor so she went back to the bed, laid it on the bed, then went back to her clothes and hurriedly dressed. Panties and bra went on first in case he came in.

She had everything on including her shoes and it was still just her. The fire had been built back up a little and the possum leftovers were warming up. Looking out the window showed that it was still a bit dark outside but the sun would be up fully in moments.

Opening the door she found him standing next to a deer that was hanging just at the edge of the porch. "You're awake. How did you sleep?" He'd barely slept at all. The second the rain had stopped he gathered up his bow and arrows, other supplies, and went out hunting. He'd only just finished bleeding it and gutting it. Its guts were still on the ground; he hadn't had time to bury them yet.

"It was nice." Sleeping on a real bed was going to spoil her if she kept it up for long.

"This is for you. I figured you'd want to get back home to your parents and I thought you could use it," Rick told her and smiled at her shocked look.

"You're sure you don't need it?" She still had to get it two miles to home, though.

"It's just me and it'll spoil before I can use even a small part of it, so it's yours. And I've got a bag for you to put it in so you can get it home easily," he offered with a smile since he was planning on staying with smaller game.

"Thank you, Rick. Thank you so much." For some reason he was being really kind to her.

"I'll get the bag, load it up for you, and show you how to carry it with ease." At least it was going to be easy for him. So hopefully it would be for her as well.

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Together they finished off last night's dinner for breakfast and walked outside. It was time for her to leave. "Have you got it?" Rick asked after helping her with the bag.

"I think so." It was a little heavy for her, but if she dragged it she would rip his bag wide open and it would fall out on her.

"Come back any time, Kate. You're more than welcome here. I'll even cook again. I'll leave it up to you if you want to bring your parents." He was actually interested in meeting them. Kate was already the first shifter he had met in a long time.

Kate was certain she was blushing. She wasn't even sure what she was going to tell her parents, let alone bring them here to meet him. She had only just met him.

"Be careful." Rick waved as he watched her walk away with the deer, her bow and arrows, and her knife. He sighed, went inside, and banked the fire. He needed to check his traps because if it was another possum it needed all day to soak before he could cook it. If he was lucky maybe there would be a rabbit in one of his traps.

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Kate saw her parents before they saw her. Her dad was cleaning something small and her mother looked to be preparing something. Then her mother spotted her and came running toward her. "Katie, it's about time." She helped Kate with the bag. She was full of questions. "What's in this and where did you get it?" They had both been worried sick about her not coming home and then it had rained really hard all night long or so it seemed.

"Katie!" Her dad had spotted both of them and soon everything Kate was carrying was no longer hers. "What's this?" Jim inquired.

"It's a deer." Kate opened it since she had watched Rick close it up. However, there was a surprise inside. Yes, there was a deer, but there were also walnuts and hazelnuts.

"You've been busy." Jim was impressed. This was going to feed them for a couple of days before it started to spoil. Puzzled, he looked at her. "Where did you get the bag, Katie?" They didn't have one of those though it looked like it had come in really handy.

"I met someone." Kate put on her best _please don't be mad _look."He's a shifter, he was really nice. He fed me, let me sleep in his bed, dried my clothes, and shot the deer for me," she blurted.

"You slept where? …In his bed!?" Jim didn't like what he was hearing.

"I had what he called a comforter wrapped around me while my clothes dried. He didn't see a thing, I swear." She hadn't been naked in front of him or done anything else. "He was nice, Dad, so relax." She did kind of like him.

Jo asked the only question she wanted an answer to. "So was he handsome?"

"JOHANNA!" It wasn't a question he even wanted asked.

"We'll talk later," her mom whispered to her. It all had Kate smiling. It actually felt pretty good.

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Jim and Jo listened to all Kate could or was willing to tell them.

Her dad frowned. "A shifter with things from town who built his cabin all by himself. And the bow that you talked about." Something wasn't adding up. There was a secret being hidden in there somewhere.

They didn't have an axe to cut wood for the fire with so they had no choice but to forage for wood that they could carry.

Jo finally asked her question with her husband far enough away so he wouldn't hear them. "So, was he handsome?"

Kate's smile told Jo what she needed to know. "And muscles, Mom, lots and lots of muscles. But there was something else." She did have something she needed to talk with her about.

Jo was liking the sound of this young man. Kate leaned toward her mom. "He has whip marks on his back. Bad ones. He said his dad gave them to him when he was younger. Something about training him for something. He's been whipped bad, Mom, really bad."

Jo was silent while she thought about that. For him to be a shifter meant his parents were as well. So why would his shifter father whip his son? Training for what? She looked at Katie. "You said he built it and lives there. Where are his parents?" Or were they captured and dead?

"He didn't exactly say and I didn't push him. He did talk about him and his parents being here for summer. It sounded like when summer was over he would be leaving with them," Kate said. "Oh, and he knows about that huge house I saw. It's actually closer to his place than we are."

"He has an axe for cutting wood. He knows how to cook. He used something called cubes when he cooked a possum." Kate's eyes widened as she said, "You should see his bow, Mom. It looks totally different and his arrows are made of metal, not wood." She had never seen anything like it.

Nothing that Kate was telling her was adding up. They were shifters and were on the run. A little later in the fall they would be moving on to avoid the cold and the snow. They had almost nothing so how and where did he get all this stuff and be a shifter? She looked askance at her daughter. "You're sure he's a shifter?" Katie hadn't met any save for herself and her husband. Jim and Jo had known a few but had long since lost contact with them.

"He's a shifter, Mom, I'm positive. He felt just like you two do." She was certain of that, too. "I didn't reveal myself to him, though." She had remained silent about that.

Jo knew she didn't have to say anything about her being a shifter. A shifter just knew when they were in the presence of another shifter. The only thing none of them knew when meeting was what kind of shifter they were. There was or had been practically no animal that a shifter couldn't be.

"You didn't shift in front of him?" Jo needed to be sure.

"MOTHER!" Her mother had just insulted her to her way of thinking.

"Sorry, honey, I should have known better." She should have trusted her.

"Rick, huh. Rick what?" Surely he had a last name.

"He didn't say and I didn't ask. I didn't tell him my last name, either. I also didn't tell him exactly where we are, how we got here, or where we're going from here." Kate had kept her mouth shut about all of that.

Jo nodded approvingly. Katie had shown that she was smart. They got back to work picking up wood for the fire so they would have heat at night and have a fire to cook with.

"So he cooks, does he?" Jo teased.

"Yep, he's pretty good too." Kate smiled broadly as she remembered what he'd cooked. Then she quickly covered her ass. "But not as good as you, Mom. No one's as good as you."

"Uh-huh," Jo smiled; Katie was obviously impressed with him.

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"What are you thinking, Jo?" Jim wanted her opinion. He couldn't read her mind even if they were bonded.

"Katie's obviously impressed with him and it sounds like he was nice to her. He didn't take advantage of her and didn't press her for answers to questions." Jo was happy with what she knew…for now.

Jim shook his head. "It just doesn't add up. How did a shifter get all that stuff? Going into any town can be dangerous." Neither of them really understood how shifters were spotted but it was just safer to stay away from towns and large cities.

"A compound bow with metal arrows, an axe, the ability to cook in a pot, what sounds like a real bed with a mattress." Jo agreed there was something fishy. "And a real window with glass and everything." Something was going on.

"If they're both out hunting in the same area they're bound to meet again. Do we move now? Do we order her to stay away from him?" Jim looked worriedly at his mate.

"Run her life for her?" Jo hated the idea and started shaking her head. "If they meet she'll ask questions because she wants to know. We'll just have to get her to tell us what she learns. We can decide then." For now Katie could do what she wanted. She was a smart girl; they trusted her not to reveal herself and get herself caught and killed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 4_

Two days later Kate was back out under the pretense of going hunting. The deer Rick had given her was going to go bad soon, or at least what was left of it would. They had cooked some of it and her dad had set up a jerky making area for still more of it. Still they were going to need something more in the next few days. So she was out there looking.

It was just that her looking was taking her on nearly a straight line to where Rick's little cabin was located. She really did want to spend some time with him. Talk to him, learn more about him. She hadn't met many shifters and she was curious. Not that he wasn't easy on the eyes, he was. He really was.

She had even generated a pretense for being there when she saw him. She wanted to give him his bag back. The one he had given her to carry the deer with.

When she got closer she finally caught a glimpse of his cabin. She saw a small amount of smoke coming out of his chimney so she knew he had a fire going. She also saw that his only door was closed. She was soon standing on his porch, wondering what to do. Last time she had simply burst in and slammed the door closed. However, it had been raining heavily at the time and she didn't even know he was in there. This time it wasn't raining and she knew he might be in there.

Then she heard him, or more accurately she heard his voice. It sounded like he was…singing, of all things. It was more than enough to get her off his porch and in search of just where he was. It seemed to be coming from where she knew he had set up a place to… Well, a place to do one's business and not leave a mess. When she turned the corner she saw him. The sight of him had her clapping a hand over her mouth and jumping back around the corner of his building so she couldn't see him. He was dumping water over his head and was standing with his back to her – completely naked.

She moved to take a peek and see if he was still naked; she caught herself and stopped. She and her parents took baths to get clean, yes. But they did it at a stream. It was just a quick scrub down using the water since they had little to wash with.

Unable to resist, she poked her head around the corner just a little to get an eye on him. Sure enough he was still standing there, totally naked with his back to her and he was scrubbing with something. Once again she saw the scars on his back; she also saw his ass. It was a mighty fine-looking ass, too. She also got to see some of his muscles working as he scrubbed. Then suddenly he bent over to wash his legs.

That had Kate scurrying back around the corner and clapping her hand over her mouth again, desperately trying to not make a sound. She had seen him! Well, part of him. His balls, to be more precise.

With her hand still over her mouth she took another peek and saw that he was standing again, only to see him drop what he was scrubbing with. Then he bent over to scoop out some water. That was when she saw _him _again. This time, though, she watched and never took her eyes off of him.

She watched as he poured water over his head then bent down to get more. Her eyes were glued on seeing his balls and couldn't stop from wishing that he would turn around so she could see the rest of him. Then suddenly he did just that. Except instead of looking she ducked back around the side of the building so she could hide and not be seen. She still had her hand over her mouth. Except she really wanted to see so she took another peek.

She almost cried out in alarm since he was walking toward her. She only had a second to look before she ran for it. It was a first for her. She had accidentally seen her father washing, but all she saw then was his naked ass. And it was her father so she had run for it.

Now it was Rick and she had gotten a peek of all of him and there she was, running again. The closest and largest trees were too far away – he would easily spot her before she could hide behind one – so she ducked around the corner of the building, slammed her back up against it, and put her hand back over her mouth to remain silent.

She heard him on his porch as the door opened but didn't close. She didn't really hear anything else. She gave him a couple of minutes and then walked slowly and quietly to the door. She really did want to talk to him and deep down she wanted another peek.

Just as she reached the door and looked inside she found him drying himself with a cotton towel. But at the moment he was drying _that _area. She saw him drying his balls and his limp cock and moving it all around. This time she couldn't hold it in. She screeched and turned her back on him while slapping a hand over her mouth. She had seen a lot this time!

"KATE!" He hadn't even heard her let alone felt her. Maybe to feel her she needed to be closer, not that she was all that far away now.

"I didn't see anything!" Kate shrieked insistently and squeezed her eyes closed since that was a big, bold lie.

"I'm pretty sure you saw everything," Rick said dryly and started to wrap his towel around himself, then decided to get dressed instead.

"I have a bad memory," she babbled nervously, knowing full well she was never, ever, going to forget this day. Rick could only smile; he was sure her memory was perfect.

"You can turn around now." He was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.

Kate turned her head and cracked open an eye to look before she actually turned around. Sure enough he was dressed and she didn't see anything. Except for his legs, arms, muscles, and…HIS BULGE!

She spun back around. "What? I'm dressed, honest." Rick didn't see anything wrong. She had seen him like this last time. "Ohh!" He had the beginnings of an erection. He searched for something, anything, he could use to cover himself while he waited for it to go down. He grabbed his towel, wrapped around his waist, and thankfully it hid mostly everything. "Better?" he asked which got her to peek with just one eye.

Kate looked and her eyes immediately went down _there._ She really couldn't help it. Except she didn't see much this time. "Better," she decided then turned to face him. "I, uh… I came to give you back your bag and to thank you. You were very kind last time." She had decided that she had enjoyed his company.

"Thanks, but you can keep it. You're likely to get more use out of it than I am anyway." He still planned on sticking with small game for his meals. He also decided that her being shy was kind of sweet.

He noticed she was dressed in the same clothes which left him wondering just how many clothes she had. He also wondered if he should risk going home to get her some and maybe her parents as well. But perhaps they didn't have a way to transport more than what they had now. Plus if he ran into her father or mother he might not get to come back here at all.

"Are you staying? I caught a raccoon in a trap this morning. I was thinking of cooking it differently this time. You might like it. I've got it soaking at the moment." She could spend the entire day with him if she wanted. He'd like that.

"No, I should get back. I'm out hunting for more meat. We've just about used up what we had from that deer. Thank you for that, by the way." She watched as he moved closer to her.

"Are you sure? I would like the company." Especially when it was as pretty as her.

"I…should–" she began to say as his head leaned down to hers. She tilted her head up. His mouth just kept getting closer and her heart started pounding. GOD! He was going to kiss her! Suddenly his lips were on hers. They were so soft and gentle. It was just what a kiss was supposed to be like. Then she felt his arms around her, pulling her into his body. The kiss then became a little more passionate and forceful.

She was kissing him back. She was actually kissing him. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed herself into him. When he stopped kissing her she actually moaned at the loss. Then he began kissing her neck. She tipped her head to give him better access. This was different! In the space of a heartbeat she decided that she liked it.

Then he was kissing her again. When he stopped she opened her eyes and saw his eyes looking right into hers and his lips were still right there. She could feel his breath on her face, on her lips.

"You sure you don't want to stay? I have a couple of games we can play using cards. You could help me cook." Rick had let himself give in to his desire and kissed her. His biggest fear was that she would run, but she hadn't. In fact she still had her arms around him and had kissed him back.

Kate was puzzled. What were cards? She really did want to learn more and besides, she had decided that she liked being kissed by him. "Sure." The word was out of her mouth before she even knew she had said it. "But only if I get to help cook." She wanted to show him that she could cook and she had already seen that he knew how to cook using other things she had never even seen before.

"Deal." Rick gave her a quick kiss and let go of her. Already missing his touch, Kate reluctantly let go of him. She felt at peace, safe being in his arms. It was nice, really nice.

"You can help me set up the fire pit for grilling." Rick left her to go get some wood from his pile inside the cabin. Kate trailed along right behind him. He gave her an armload, picked up one of his own, and went outside.

Kate saw a ring of stones and watched him drop his wood so she did the same. Then he went to get some kindling to start the fire. She stayed at the fire and watched him come out with something. He had to arrange the wood below it so that it would lay flat. He arranged the rocks and put this black thing that was made up of bars on top. This was different. She understood the concept but not what this thing was.

He glanced up at her. "Help me with the raccoon, please."

Kate found his raccoon in a pot filled with water. Testing the water she found it to be salty. "Use this to lift it out of the water and carry it over to the fire." He handed her something and she fished it out of the water. She found it was already dressed and the sweat glands had been removed. He really did know how to cook.

She put it on the black thing and watched him come back out and used a tool to start the fire. Her family used matches but this looked different. He handed it to her and went back inside. She looked it over. There was a way to hold it and it had this black thing in two locations. What she was holding was red and where the flame came out was also black.

Rick came back with an armful of small items. She had seen all of them her first time here but didn't know what they were. Reading what was on them hadn't helped her any.

He was surprised she hadn't lit the fire. "Have you ever used a propane lighter before?" He could see she was looking at it uncertainly.

Kate shook her head. "We use matches." They used them sparingly, too. Rick put his spice jars down and showed her how to use it. She was soon lighting it and extinguishing it over and over again. It had her smiling. It was totally different and cool.

"Hold this for me." He handed her a cup then began putting items into it for her. He named each thing he put in the cup. "Brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. I'm supposed to use ketchup but I don't have a refrigerator to keep it fresh. So we're going to have to do without."

Then he handed her a brush. "Mix it up well then use the brush to put it on the raccoon." This was her helping him. "You want to do that every few minutes. Try and keep it wet using that while it cooks. Then turn it over and do the other side. Just keep doing that until it's done. I'm going to go get the nuts and other stuff. Be right back." Kate watched him go back inside and come back out carrying a couple of bags. Then off into the woods he went.

Kate kept brushing this stuff on the outside and then turned it over and kept brushing. She didn't see the point but what he had cooked last time had tasted pretty good so she just kept brushing and turning.

When he came back he dropped his bags, went back inside, and came out with his lone chair and his little table. "You can sit on the table. I'll probably break it if I sit on it." Then he went back inside and came back out with two bowls.

That was when Kate found out what was in the bags as she kept brushing and turning. "Blackberries." She knew they were just after the end of the season for them and was surprised to see them but she approved. "Those were nice." She pointed at the walnuts that came out next.

"Yeah, it's just that they get your hands black from all the goo," Rick agreed easily. He then proceeded to get the nuts out from inside. Kate soon saw what he was talking about.

"You should try using handfuls of leaves when you do that. Here, you do this." She handed him her bowl and brush and left him to collect an armful of leaves.

Rick was soon brushing and turning, still watching Kate getting walnuts out while keeping her hands mostly clean and not black. "Nice trick." Rick liked it. Kate smiled shyly at him.

Two more bowls and Kate was sitting on the table with a bowl filled with grilled raccoon, berries, and cracked nuts. She knew what two of them tasted like so she lifted out a piece of the raccoon and gave it a taste test. The flavors hit her like a freight train and she soon had that bone picked clean.

"Like it?" Rick was nibbling while he watched her devour hers. All she did was keep eating while nodding her head. She didn't know just what he'd done, but it was really good.

She was working on seconds while Rick mostly just watched her eat. Soon Kate was done and pleasantly full. She sat there and watched him eat. "What were all those things?" She wanted to learn.

"Spices and dehydrated vegetables. You don't have or use them?" They must really be roughing it to not have spices and dehydrated vegetables like powdered onions and garlic. Kate shook her head mutely. He didn't have much extra but he decided then and there that she was leaving her with what he could give her.

She helped him clean up and they were soon back out next to the fire. She was sitting on his table while he took the chair. "I take it you move around a lot." For a shifter being hunted it didn't pay to stay in one place for long.

Kate nodded. "We came north to get out of the heat. We'll go back south when it starts to get cold here." They might actually end up in the very same spot, but she didn't know for sure.

Rick nodded briefly; he'd assumed as much.

"What about you? Where will you go?" Was he going their way? She realized she was going to miss him when they left.

Rick sighed heavily since he knew what was next. "Back east with my parents. We only stay here for summer. Then it's back home and back to being told what to do." It was his life for the foreseeable future. He had plans but worried that he wasn't ready yet. He needed to be sure everything was ready to be able to hide from his father.

"Where are your parents now?" She had an idea but feared to ask it of him.

Rick gestured, waving vaguely. "In the house a few miles or so that way. You've seen it, haven't you?" She did get out to hunt so might have gotten that far. He watches her. "Impressive, isn't it?"

To Kate that place wasn't just impressive, it was amazing. She had seen houses in their travels, but never anything like that place. It was massive.

"You should see home if you think that place is impressive. They both feel more like a prison to me." They were both places to have his father run his life for him. Teach him to be just like him.

"Your father. …Does he have to whip you?" Surely there was a better way to teach someone. She didn't understand the purpose in whipping him.

"My father has power. More power than anyone else in this country. Even the President of the United States does what he's told. …My father has plans for me." Rick hated his father's plan and willed for his own plan to soon be ready to get away from him. As far away as he could and hope that it was far enough.

That had Kate wondering about who had more power than the President. Didn't he control the military?

Kate now had a really big question but chose to ask her parents her question first.

They ended up being quiet while cracking walnuts and eating them and throwing the shells into the fire.

Kate was enjoying spending time with him. She'd gotten a few more answers and he was being so very nice. Her mind suddenly went to what she'd seen and felt a blush starting that she tried to hide. She'd seen him in all his natural glory and she couldn't stop thinking about him. It also had her questioning if Rick was going to be her first. She was nineteen years old and felt ready.


	5. Chapter 5

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 5_

Kate sleepily opened her eyes, trying to focus on just where she was. She quickly worked out that she was in Rick's sinfully nice bed with incredibly soft sheets on it. There was sun coming in through his lone window which meant the sun had just come up since it faced east.

She was also _NAKED!_ Then she remembered what they'd done last night. Her grin turned into a satisfied smile. Their kisses had gotten moved to the bed and she had even helped him to remove her top and bra at first. His kisses moved down to her breasts and she really enjoyed that. She had held his head in place to keep his attention on her breasts. Then her pants and panties had come off and she'd started to scoot back on the bed with the intention of lying down on it so he could get on top of her and have sex.

Instead he'd stopped her and spread her legs wide. She watched, stunned into inaction, as he nudged his head between her thighs. The second his lips and then his tongue touched a space she didn't think anyone should be kissing, licking, or even sucking, her heartbeat skyrocketed. It felt amazing! She whimpered, moaned, and groaned as well as having her breath come in short bursts. She'd even grabbed handfuls of his hair to hold his head in place. Then she had her first orgasm that wasn't caused by her own fingers. She screamed, something she'd fought hard not to do so that her parents didn't hear her when they were gone.

He kept his head between her spread legs as she calmed down from her orgasm. Then he stood up and took off his shirt. After that off came his shoes and down came his pants and underwear. Suddenly what she'd only got a glimpse of before was right in front of her face when she sat on the edge of the bed. She soon had her hands on him and watched, amazed, as he grew in size. It became larger and larger yet it was getting smoother and smoother. She was soon using both hands to stroke it. The moment she heard him groan a smile bloomed on her face. She was the cause of it and that pleased her greatly.

Just as she was thinking of lying back on the bed so they could have sex, suddenly this white fluid shot out and hit her in the face. She hadn't been expecting that so it had caught her by surprise. She also heard him groan loudly. Her mouth was open in shock when he spurted again. This time a lot of it went into her mouth. She closed her mouth then swirled her tongue around, tasting it. This caused his next spurt to hit her in the face. It had an interesting taste. It was also really warm. She used her hand to clean her face then tasted what was on her fingers.

When she paid attention to things again she found Rick on his knees so she kissed him. Then he'd climbed into bed with her, positioning her body so it lay on top of his; blessed sleep took them.

They hadn't had sex so she was still a virgin but what they had done had been totally enjoyable.

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Rick had awakened with the overwhelming need to pee. The problem was that Kate was sleeping on top of him. It had taken some time to squeeze out from under her. Once he accomplished that he had left the door open and ran for it.

He stood there peeing and sighed from the relief on his bladder. It also gave him a moment to think about what they'd done last night. He was pretty sure Kate hadn't been expecting him to go down on her. Getting her to climax had been easy enough and she'd actually tasted pretty damn good. He was definitely doing that again if she would let him.

Based on the women his father had bought for him to have sex with so that he could turn into a man, Kate didn't have much skill at giving blow jobs. But that didn't stop him from having an orgasm that shook him to the core and took the strength from his legs. He even kind of liked seeing his come on her face and then was even more thrilled when she cleaned her own face with her fingers and licked her fingers clean.

Satisfied, he went back inside and found Kate still naked and sitting on the edge of the bed. He walked right up to her and stopped. "How do you feel?" What she said was going to tell him a lot.

"Great!" She'd never felt better. So great in fact that she reached out, took his limp cock in her hand, and stroked it, working at getting him hard again. She was still fascinated as she watched him grow larger and larger. He still felt really soft and she was soon licking it again.

She listened to him moaning and she grinned as she licked. Then he groaned loudly and she felt his spurt hit her in the face again. This time she took him into her mouth and let the next spurts go directly into her mouth.

Just like last time Rick felt his legs go weak and he landed on his knees. Kate was cleaning her face and then her hand when he spread her legs wide and went down on her again.

Kate drew in a shaky breath the second his tongue touched her. She still couldn't believe that he really wanted to do that. But she did nothing to stop him and actually grabbed handfuls of his hair and held him in place. She soon screamed out yet another orgasm and felt him kissing her inner thighs while she calmed down. She leaned over to him so she could kiss him and felt him kiss her back.

They still hadn't had sex so she remained a virgin but she was happy. "Morning," she smiled. Then her eyes opened wide. "I need to pee…, NOW!" She got up and ran to his outdoor bathroom area. She was still naked but didn't even think about it.

Rick smiled as he watched her really cute, very naked ass run out the door. Since she was not an enticement for the moment he got up and went over to the fireplace so he could build up the fire. He needed to think about what breakfast was going to be this morning since they had grilled and eaten all of the raccoon last night.

Kate came back inside and found him still naked and working at the fireplace. It allowed her a chance to see his naked ass and it made her smile. At that moment she decided that they were going to eventually have sex and she was going to lose her virginity to him. To reinforce that point she decided to remain naked as she helped him. "Breakfast? How can I help?" She hadn't brought anything with her so it was going to have to be all his stuff.

"We didn't save any of our supper last night." He stood there thinking then turned to look at his shelves to see what he had on them. Instead what he saw was her standing there naked. The hair between her legs was maybe a little abundant but he liked it well enough. What he suddenly liked was the smattering of hair in her armpits. He had no idea what it took for her to shave her legs, though even her legs looked to have a little bit of hair.

Kate saw him staring at her; she smiled widely and even widened her stance just a little.

Rick cleared his throat. "What's on my shelf over there?" He watched her turn to go look. While that helped a little, her turning exposed her really nice ass to his eyes.

He listened to her list everything on his shelf and mentally made his choices. "Bring me the peaches if they're still good plus the honey, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and that can of milk. Oh, and the GoGo squeez strawberry yogurt." He had an idea, but without a blender it was going to take a lot of stirring.

Kate brought him everything and he cursed internally when after she got close that he couldn't take his eyes off her thatch of hair between her legs.

Still Rick got to work. "What are you making?" He was using spices again, something they practically never had.

"Peach and strawberry pie smoothies. Though without a blender it maybe be a little chunky," he said. He also needed two of his biggest glasses which turned out to be plastic since getting real glass glasses out there was almost impossible.

"Here, stir yours until it's as smooth as you can make it and then drink." Rick handed her one while he made his.

Soon they were both stirring madly to get it smooth. It allowed him to look at what he was doing instead of some part of her delicious-looking body.

"Cheers!" He held up his glass. "You clink yours against mine and make a wish," he told her since she hesitated.

Kate smiled since this sounded fun. She made her wish, clinked her glass against his, and took a sip. Her eyes shot open wide. "That's really good! Where did you learn to make it?" Her mother had taught her all she knew about cooking.

"Classes. Mother suggested it to my father and next thing I knew I was being taught how to cook. There aren't many–" Rick stopped abruptly since he was about to say shifters even if he knew she was one. "I needed to know how to cook if I was going to live my life alone some day."

Kate looked at him with new eyes. "Yeah, alone." She was a shifter and was doomed to live her life alone after her parents died some day. Any human who found out about her would turn her in and her life would end. Maybe that was why she wanted Rick to have sex with her so badly. He might be her only future that meant she wasn't going to be alone.

The tone of her voice had Rick looking at her. What he didn't know was if she felt what he felt. Did she know that he was a shifter? Until he worked that out he had to stay hidden. Granted who was she going to tell, but staying hidden had been beaten into him on several occasions. He carried the scars on his back to prove it.

Kate had drunk all of hers and had really liked it. She needed to spend more time with him before they moved on. Then some hope slipped into her thoughts. Maybe she could talk him into coming with them. It meant she had to take him to her parents first, though.

Now that breakfast was over with they needed to clean up and she volunteered to help him. Plus it meant if they stayed naked she could keep looking at him. She had seen his cock up close and even had it in her hands and mouth, but she couldn't keep from looking at it. Some day soon it was going to be inside her.

"When are you leaving to go home?" He wasn't sure just what to do next with her.

"I need to check my traps on along the way so maybe three hours before it gets dark." She wanted to spend as much time with him as she could.

That told him pretty much all day. "Okay, maybe you can show me what you've got," Rick suggested.

It had Kate thinking. She'd already spread her legs and shown him everything. Though she was willing to spread her legs again and let him lick her core.

"With your bow and arrow," he said gently; he'd seen her looking down at herself as she stood there naked.

"Ohh!" He meant her hunting skills. Then she decided on a contest. Kate smiled at him. "Best shot wins!"

Rick was willing since his bow was much better than hers. "What are the stakes?"

Oh boy, now she needed to know what the stakes were. What did she want when she won and what was she willing to give up if somehow he won? She had two things in mind for when she won, but what if she lost? Which was impossible. She needed a moment. "Terms: we hunt naked except for shoes." She didn't want to cut the bottom of her feet open doing it. "And we don't get too far apart." What was the point of hunting naked if she couldn't see him?

Rick raised an eyebrow. "I accept your terms. So what are the stakes?" This was his idea so she should get to set the stakes.

What she wanted to say was if she won they would have sex since she really wanted to lose her virginity to him. However, she decided that was going to happen either today or some other day soon, regardless.

"You come home with me and meet my parents when I win," Kate said.

Rick thought about it. Meet her parents. "I suppose you want us to be naked then, too?" he teased.

"No, silly." Her gaze dropped to the ground for a moment and her cheeks flushed. "Just…just don't be surprised by what we have." They had nothing like his little cabin. Though it had her wishing.

"I'll bring all my spices with me if by some miracle you win," he informed her and smiled when she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh, I'll win." She was going to show him something and more than just her naked body.

"And when _I_ win…, every time you come here for a visit you'll spend the entire time naked," Rick said smugly. He wanted to see just how much she wanted to be naked around him.

"DEAL!" Kate quickly agreed which presented a new problem. She wanted them naked when together. But if she just stripped and stayed that way and told him to strip she would win again.

"Then get your shoes, your bow and arrows, and stop talking." Rick went for his shoes and grabbed his bow and arrows. Then he picked up the large game bag, placed it over his back, added a canteen filled with fresh water for the trip. He motioned for her to precede him. "Ladies first." Kate practically beamed and even swung her hips on purpose until she started stepping over or onto things. Then it became more about watching where she was going. There wasn't going to be any game this close to his cabin so this was going to take some time.

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Kate was determined to win. It meant her parents would get to meet him and she was still set on losing her virginity to him.

She stopped when she found some tracks and could tell that while they weren't fresh they weren't very old, either. She looked around, pointed a direction, and looked at him and saw his cock first since she couldn't help it. Then she saw him nod. So she moved off. When the tracks suddenly changed direction she changed hers to make sure she was still downwind from it. It added time to their hunt but it was worth it.

Then she spotted it – a young buck. Only problem was it was some distance away from her and it was moving, just not running yet. She turned to look at Rick and saw he was already lined up on the shot with that fancy bow of his. She wanted to yell at him, but that would scare it away and they might be hunting all day. Instead she hissed softly at him.

She didn't fail to notice that the deer had frozen at hearing her noise. But it had worked; Rick lowered his bow. He remembered the bet was about the best shot, not who killed it first. He could easily kill it from where he stood but would he end up with the best shot? It would be the best shot if it was the only shot. Still she had hissed at him so he'd sighed quietly and had lowered his bow.

They started moving again. Eventually even Kate had a shot and looked at Rick who was already lined up on it. She needed the best shot so she picked a spot and prayed it would hit where she wanted it to go.

Kate fired and heard Rick shoot a split second later. They both watched as her shot made enough noise that it spooked the young buck. Kate was used to her bow making a little noise so had compensated for her shot. Rick's bow was considerably more silent so he had not. They both watched the deer fall to the ground after taking just one step.

"WOO HOO!" Kate was sure she had got it. Both of them climbed down to reach it before something else found it and they had to fight to keep it.

They found it lying on the ground but it wasn't dead yet. Kate saw that her arrow had hit it in the neck and had damaged its windpipe. It was lying there, suffering. Rick's silver arrow was in its shoulder and had broken the bone so it was now lame.

Rick handed her his knife and watched as she swiftly killed it to put it out of its misery. She handed it back to him. "Thanks." Since she was naked she didn't really have anywhere to put it.

"My shot, your shot." Kate was smiling proudly. She was sure she'd won. Hers would have killed it eventually while his only made it lame and unable to walk.

"You win." He knew he had lost but it still felt like it was a win. She had proved she was good. "Help me hang it up and we can get to work before putting it in the bag." This was going to go fast with her help.

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Kate was getting dressed though she found she really didn't want to. As she dressed she didn't miss that he was starting to get an erection. She had been bending over to pick up her clothes with her back to him.

"Do you need help with that?" She didn't wait for an answer. She dropped to her knees and started stroking his cock before she began licking it and took it in her mouth. She was starting to learn that he had some very sensitive areas and now she was taking advantage of them to their full extent.

It took almost no time at all for him to climax in her mouth. She decided to play with him so she kept it all in her mouth as she stood up to kiss him and share it with him. Rick had never tasted himself before and wasn't sure what he thought of it.

He had the deer slung over his shoulders while she had all of his spices and a few other things in a canvas bag. "Follow me." She headed toward home. She really needed for her parents to like him. If they did he was going to become her lover and come with them when they left this area soon.


	6. Chapter 6

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 6_

Rick had to admit that she seemed to know where she was going. They were in fact getting farther and farther away from his parents' summer home. That was actually a good thing as far as he was concerned. He was also glad that so far his father had left him alone. It might be a summer trip though his father always had something to do. Being in command of damn near everything tended to keep him busy.

He saw it from a distance. It looked like a lean-to that had a sloped room much like his did. They had built sides for it and had even set them in at an angle a little to create an open doorway. The entire thing was built on a small clearing on a hillside. It was kind of ingenious how they'd done it. When it rained the water would come down the hill, onto their roof, and off the front side in a wall of water. If they had ditches on each side the interior should stay dry. Just out front he saw a fire pit made of stones. There was even a large pile of wood off to one side. However, he didn't see anyone.

Kate left him and raced up the hill. Since he was carrying the deer he didn't run with her.

"MOM, DAD!" She had a lot to tell them. Rick was right behind her. Except she didn't see them and a look inside showed that they weren't there either. She stood just outside of their home to look down off the hill. She still didn't see anyone.

Kate was still looking when Rick showed up. "No one home?" he asked and watched her shake her head. "Help me with the deer. I think I see a jerky rack. We can start cutting and cooking while we wait." They could put the time to good use.

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Rick was watching the fire while Kate was hanging up deer meat. "Kate, down there." He saw two people trudging up the hill with a load of he didn't know what.

"Mom, Dad!" She raced down the hill to join them.

"Katie!" She was back and Jo was really happy for that. "Give me a hand." Jim had a possum and some other items while Jo was loaded down with any number of things she'd found.

Kate grabbed something and went with them up the hill. She needed to warn them before they actually got there. "Um, Mom, Dad…, I brought someone home with me. It's Rick. Please give him a chance, he's really nice."

"You brought him here?" Had Jo heard right? Then she saw him. He was standing next to their fire. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and had a bit of a beard. Jo easily saw what her daughter saw in him.

"Who's here?" Jim was a little behind his wife since he had more weight to carry.

"Katie brought her boyfriend home with her," Johanna called over her shoulder.

"Mom!" She hadn't really thought of him as being her boyfriend. But it had her thinking about what they were and what they'd done. Maybe her mother was right after all.

"Her boyfriend?" That had Jim stopping to look up since most of his vision was on the ground in front of him. He didn't want to suddenly trip and end up rolling down the hill. When he saw Rick he essentially saw what his wife saw. He looked like a big guy, bigger than he was, for certain. Jim questioned her softly. "This is your shifter friend?"

"We haven't talked about that yet." She was doing what she'd been told. _Never talk about her being a shifter._ It was potentially dangerous for all of them.

Rick met them partway and as soon as he was close enough, he felt them. Both of them were indeed shifters. He had only ever felt his parents for so long. Now here he was surrounded by three of them. While he had a lot of questions about how they'd managed to survive, he knew shifters didn't talk. Being shifters was going to be a touchy subject for all of them.

Rick waited for them both to put down what they were carrying. "Hi, I'm Rick." He held out his hand and shook theirs. "We came with a deer, some of which is on your jerky rack and the rest is on the fire," he explained since he came bearing gifts.

Kate grabbed a bag. "We brought spices. He has a lot of them and he's a pretty good cook." She was proud of what he could do and really wanted to show him off to her parents.

Jim and Jo looked everything over. They hadn't seen spices in years and wondered where he got them. They had no trouble telling that he was a shifter. Much like Rick they didn't know how to talk about it. They'd gotten so used to hiding that talking about it was really difficult.

Jim started with, "Katie tells us you have a cabin."

"Yes, sir, I do. It took me months to complete over the last two years. Then another month to haul only what I could carry out to it. It was a lot of work but I like it. It's a nice, quiet, peaceful location." He was proud of it. He had done all of it all alone.

Kate said with a rush, "It has a real bed and a fireplace where he cooks. It even has a window with real glass." They had lived in open places for as long as she could remember.

"Sounds amazing." Jim really was impressed. Though it left him wondering just how he'd gotten all that stuff. Going into any town had the potential for disaster. It wasn't guaranteed that something would happen, but the danger was there.

"I won't sugarcoat it. It was a lot of work and I had a few disasters. I broke more than one axe handle while squaring up the logs for the walls. I had more rocks for the fireplace keep falling down since it's just dry stacked stone. I even dropped the window once and just about had a heart attack." Rick rolled his eyes and Jim and Jo chuckled at his story. "Then the very first rain showed just how badly I had bound the straw roof and since the interior is a dirt floor it was soon a mud floor. Thankfully I hadn't gotten the mattress down and into the place so at least it didn't get soaked."

Kate was smiling widely since even she hadn't heard these stories yet. She'd been spending much of her time just being with him and not questioning everything all that much. Perhaps that had been a mistake but at the moment it didn't sound like one.

"Do you want any help with any of that?" Rick saw they both had a lot on them.

"We can manage." Jim and Jo were used to doing it themselves and knew what to do without asking.

"Maybe Rick can show off his cooking," Kate suggested since she wanted them to like him very badly.

Jo was all for it. "That would be nice. We won't end up eating after the sun's down."

"Deer for dinner it is then." Rick began to think about what he would need. He soon was issuing requests to Kate since the other two had gotten busy with what they had.

Rick found out that Kate knew how to make dough with what they both had so he got her started doing that while he gathered olive oil, cumin, garlic, marjoram, rosemary, oregano, red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper.

"What are we making?" Kate had no idea just what they were doing. She simply knew he was using spices again.

"Gyros. It's Greek. You shape them into flat round rolls and fry 'em, taking care not to burn them. Then we scoop what I'm making onto them, roll them into a cone, and eat. You'll like them." Rick hoped they would anyway.

"What are these?" Jim watched as Rick made the first one by flattening something into what looked to him like a pancake.

"Gyros, Dad." Kate hadn't even tasted one yet but was proud of what he'd made for all of them. "It's full of spices." She loved that part. His spices were amazing.

Kate watched her parents taking tentative bites then start eating more in earnest. That was when she began eating. "This is pretty good." Kate knew she shouldn't be impressed based on what she knew about his cooking, but she was.

"Thanks, Rick. We haven't had spices since just before Katie was born. You're going to spoil us if you stay here long," Jo teased since everything she cooked was pretty bland compared to this.

Rick was more than willing to give them to her. "I'll leave them behind for you to enjoy."

"Help me clean up," Jo told her daughter. Rick might have made the mess but Jo was happy to clean it all up. Rick found himself being pulled by Jim to get some distance between the two groups.

Jo began questioning Katie. "You like him a lot, don't you?"

Kate tried to hide the blush she knew was painting her cheeks. "Yeah, I do. He's really nice. Please don't mess this up, Mom." Her parents had the power to kill it if they wanted.

"I don't mean to pry, Katie, but this world doesn't love us. I'm just trying to keep you safe so don't be angry. Have you two had sex yet?" Meaning had her daughter lost her virginity to him?

Suddenly they were talking about sex. They'd had this talk when she was far younger. She knew where babies came from and more. "No, not yet. We've done some kissing and other things. You told me about sex but you didn't say anything about how good it felt when he… I mean when he…licked me there." She knew the proper words but the topic was just a little on the personal side.

Jo smiled. They'd obviously been having oral sex. "I still remember when your father first did it to me."

"MOTHER!" Having it done to her was one thing but knowing her own parents did it was quite another.

"Just remember, Katie, your very first time is going to hurt some and there will be blood. There's nothing you can do about that," Jo warned.

"I know. …And that it'll get better the more we do it, and that I might get pregnant because of it." It sounded a lot like a catch-22. The pleasure of sex was coupled with the chance of getting pregnant. Once again she questioned why only women got pregnant.

Jo took Katie's hands in hers. "There's one more thing, Katie, and this is a big one. Your father and I didn't tell you since finding another shifter was such a long shot. If you ever have sex with another shifter while you're in your animal you'll end up being bonded to each other."

"Bonded?" Did she mean they would be literally stuck together? Forever?

"Bonded is what your father and I are. It means once you're bonded you're mated for life. There will be no other person that you'll ever have sex with. If for some reason your mate dies it will not just crush your heart from the pain of his loss, but he can never, ever be replaced. You'll end up living your life alone."

"Oh." That sounded really bad. She would just make sure that they never had sex while they were their animals.

"There's something else. When you're bonded you can also, well, you can communicate with each other without actually speaking out loud to each other. As far as I know it has no distance restriction. Think of it as your heart talking to his heart. It's an amazing feeling. To know in your heart that you are loved so completely." That was the allure of being bonded. The risk was losing that person and the feeling that that would bring.

"So you can talk to dad even though he's way over there." Kate turned to look at her dad and Rick talking. Then suddenly it hit her. "That's how dad learned…!" Oh, she was so going to hurt both of them for that and glared at her mother. Now she knew how her dad knew what she'd done without her mother actually reaching him first to blab on her.

"It's great for keeping a wayward teenager in place." Jo was all smiles and ignored the daggers her daughter was sending at her.

"And there's this, too, Katie. If you ever have sex while you're in your animal it will not only bond you together, but if you end up pregnant because of it, you'll have to remain as your animal until well after the babies are born. If you shift back into a human _you will kill the babies,_ or cubs since you'll be your animal. You'll be pregnant the entire time, give birth to them, and then nurse them until they no longer need your milk, all as your animal. Which could be as long as three years."

Kate knew her eyes were now open wide and her mouth was equally wide open. If she didn't want to kill her babies, she would need to stay as her animal until she at least knew if she was pregnant or not. Then if she was, to stay that way for what felt like a really long time.

Even worse was that shifters were hated and hunted. Pregnant with babies and barely able to defend herself. It suddenly hit her as to what her mother was telling her. "Babies, as in plural?"

Jo nodded. "A human will normally have just the one. While you're in your animal it's more likely that you will have more than one cub. Two or three is far more likely."

"Three?" Kate almost choked on the word. Three children or cubs at the same time. "OH, GOD!" She liked the idea of bonding, but the costs or potential costs were starting to add up. Since shifters were hunted, she and her cubs could end up dead.

Jo added yet another warning. "Remember, your cubs or babies will not be able to shift until they're at least three or four years old. So your cubs could be cubs for a few years until they learn how to shift."

"Damn it," Kate whispered. She could shift to human but have cubs running around. That was just great, just great. "Anything else you want to tell me?" She was really starting to hate this conversation.

Jo shook her head. That was just about it. "Think long and hard about what you do, Katie, if you two stay together." He was the first man she had shown any interest in. So was it just lust or was it real love? Long-lasting love that could include ending up bonded to each other? Or simply her first love that didn't mean as much as she thought it did?

Kate was very quiet as they cleaned. So much was rolling around in her head. It didn't change much about how she felt about Rick, but it did have her thinking about their future together. Being bonded sounded really nice, but the potential price to pay for that bonding was something to be considered.

They were just about finished when they both heard Jim bellow, "**RODGERS****?****!**" They turned and saw Jim was standing and looking down at Rick. Both women ran that way. Jo, though, started hearing a whole lot about what Jim had learned and by the time they both reached them Jo was scared to death.

"**HE'S A RODGERS!**"To Jim and Jo, that meant they were all dead. Kate was shocked; she knew that name and how much it was feared. The man she was beginning to really love couldn't possibly be a Rodgers. Life wasn't that cruel, was it?

"It's not what you think." Rick was still cursing how that word escaped his lips. It was just that he was starting to really learn to love Kate.

"So your not a Rodgers?" Had he somehow misspoken? Jim didn't think so.

"Okay, it is what you think. …But I'm not my father. Please let me explain," Rick begged.

Jim had already reached his decision. "We need to pack and start running before he has us captured and killed."

"NO! I would never do that. Please just listen," Rick begged them again.

"Start packing, we're out of here." Jim moved away so he could start gathering what they really had to take with them. They would go south sooner than they'd planned, that was all.

"Dad, no, let him talk." Kate looked frantically at her mother. "MOM, PLEASE!" She knew a few things that they didn't, if he hadn't lied about it all. The scars on his back were certainly real enough.

Rick drew a deep breath and tried to calm himself. "I know my father is feared, but by no one more than me and with good reason." Kate had seen them so he pulled his shirt over his head and turned his back on all of them. He heard who he thought was Jo gasp at the sight of them. "This is my father's work." Rick turned back around and saw both of their faces. Kate had seen them already and while she obviously didn't like what she saw, she wasn't as shocked as her parents.

He put his shirt back on. "Please, Mom, let him explain," Kate begged her. Hearing that he was a Rodgers had been a blow and not a good one. However, Kate was in pretty deep already and not ready to give up on him. He had shown that he cared about her and was good to her.

Kate had one last card to play. Something none of them were really willing to talk about. "He's a shifter, Mom!" A Rodgers who was a shifter and the only way he could be a shifter was because his father and mother were shifters also. The Rodgers name may be hated and feared and with good reason, but the Rodgers were shifters. That had to count for something to her parents. It told her something.

Jo went from looking at her daughter to Rick and then back again. She was also hearing her mated husband in her head. They had a very fast debate between them that no one else heard.

Jim groaned; he didn't like it, not one bit. "You have five minutes to explain yourself, then we're leaving. And if I find you following us, I. Will. Kill. You." He would defend his family with his life no matter what his mated wife thought or his daughter. Especially against a hated Rodgers.


	7. Chapter 7

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 7_

"You're a shifter," Jim growled, his eyes angry slits, "so explain yourself." He looked at his watch since Rick's five minutes started now.

"My father rules this country and yes, I know you elected a president. But he's merely a puppet president. He has his orders and does exactly what he's told. He and his wife are also shifters. It's one of the things my father uses to maintain control over him.

"As to us being shifters…" Rick sighed, knowing they were really going to hate this part. "My father decided that our kind should be the only shifters on the planet. It took a lot of work on his part to generate the hatred of all shifters. He hasn't yet shared with me how he finds them, but he has a way and has been very successful at it."

"He chose…" Jim felt his fury over the Rodgers rising and wasn't sure he needed to hear any more.

Jo hadn't liked a word of it either but she had a question. "What animal are you?"

"Bengal tiger. My father decided only Bengal tigers had a reason to exist," Rick said, his eyes downcast in shame for what his father had done.

Kate drew in a sharp breath then clapped a hand over her mouth. She and her parents weren't Bengal tigers, but they were at least compatible. She had agonized a little, wondering if he was something totally weird like a coyote. Whether he was a dog and she was a cat.

Jim and Jo couldn't believe it. Another _shifter_ had arbitrarily decided that all other shifters had to die and had proceeded to accomplish just that. However, to keep the Bengal tiger species going it meant that there were others for his son to bond with.

Jim asked another question. "Just how much power does he truly have?"

Rick's face was solemn. "He controls everything. He makes every policy, tells the president what to say. He has total control over the military. He has complete control over the state press which only tells the people what he wants them to tell them."

"But the Senate and the House?" Jo didn't understand and really didn't understand when Rick started shaking his head. "Why are you shaking your head?"

The young man huffed out a breath. "My father has a plan to phase out both houses. They'll both soon cease to exist. All power's going to be transferred to the presidency."

"He can't do that, this country's a democracy!" Jim insisted. Granted they'd been on the run for over twenty years but it couldn't have changed that much…, could it?

Rick had learned of his father's plan by eavesdropping on some of his conversations. Instead of explaining he simply drew a finger across his throat and saw the looks on their faces. "They'll all be in the same building and that building will just–" He used his hands to mime an explosion. "Those that don't attend will be hunted down and eliminated."

Stunned, Jim looked at him in disbelief. "He'll never get away with it, surely." You didn't just remove an entire section of the government.

"The press is going to tell the people that the shifters did it." Rick had heard that part. He had no idea how it was going to be done. He just knew of the plan and who was going to take the blame.

"OH, GOD!" Jo was ready to collapse. "As if the country didn't already hate us," she moaned. She was beginning to fear that there would be no where left to hide.

Jim pointed out the problem that remained even after everything he'd said so far. Which was incredibly bad. "You're a Rodgers."

"Yeah, I am. And my father and my mother have been molding me since birth to be just like him. I'm not entirely sure but I have a theory." Rick hadn't been told and he didn't really know but it fit with what he did know. "If I'm president and my father maintains control." He shrugged.

"Presidents are still elected, are they not?" Jim didn't see how that was going to work. Granted if the state-run press only talked about Rick and he was alone on the ticket it might work.

"Maybe _c__hancellor_ would be a better word," Rick offered instead.

"OH, GOD!" Jo leaned into her husband.

"State-controlled press, hatred of all shifters throughout the entire country with no president, no House, and no Senate. You as chancellor with your father behind it all. Why does that sound so familiar." Jim stated it rhetorically since he knew exactly what it sounded like.

"How did we get to this?" Jo was still leaning against her husband. She needed some support or she was going to start crying.

"Jackson Rodgers!" Jim had an answer and they all watched as Rick started to nod. "My father has spent years toughening me up for the job. I'm supposed to be what he wants me to be. He taught me how to hate and succeeded beautifully," Rick said. All at once Kate's heart fell to her stomach and Jim and Jo's scents suddenly reeked of fear.

"I learned to hate both him and my mother beyond belief. I've dreamed up more scenarios than I could ever explain on how to kill him and when. Do I do it before or after I'm made chancellor? Do I do it before he blows up everyone in the House and Senate?" He knew his father and mother were bonded and when his father was dead it would destroy her.

Kate's face was pale. "Mom?" Had he said enough?

"How are my five minutes?" Rick questioned then smiled hopefully.

"You get an extension," Jim said. "So why are you out here?" He was a few miles away from his father and on his own.

"I talked my father into it by explaining that being on my own would teach me to be tough since I would have to hunt and kill for my food. He conceded, telling me to kill everyone I found on his land." And those three were on his land.

"I thought I hated him before this," Jim muttered, wishing he knew of a way to kill Rick's father.

"Welcome to my world," Rick said dryly, having introduced them to the hell in which he lived. "So what do we do now?" Had he convinced them of anything about him? He knew they hated his father. They were shifters so they had cause.

Jo felt Katie taking hold of her arm. Jo knew what she wanted, but they were the parents. They had to do what was right for their family, even if Katie didn't like it.

"We need to learn more so you're spending the night," Jo told him.

And Jim told him what he'd already told Jo. "So we can keep an eye on you."

"Thank you." Kate could just kiss them. Then every one of them froze. They all heard a new sound.

"_It's m__y father__!_ He has an attack helicopter. He must've come looking for me and found me gone." Rick had long since guessed that he knew exactly where his cabin was. Jackson Rogers existed by having total control over everything. Letting Rick just go somewhere that he didn't know where he was was likely not an option.

It presented them with a new problem. With a helicopter he could follow them anywhere they went. Even blow them up. They probably didn't even have time to pack and then run. Not that they were going to outrun him.

Rick had an idea, though. "His helicopter has infrared. In the woods he'll be relying on that to find me instead of just seeing me. We need to start running when he gets closer. We run as a group. Make him think he's flushed out a family of deer or something. He'll ignore us and keep looking. When he's gone we can circle back."

Jim and Jo quickly debated his plan between them. "We agree. We'll start running when you say." A helicopter needed fuel. He would eventually have to stop looking to refuel. When he did they'd come back, pack up, and leave. Rick could go back home to his family since Kate was coming with them.

They soon heard it even louder even if they didn't see it. "**RUN!** THAT WAY!" Rick pointed down the hill and all four of them took off running for all they were worth. They needed the speed of a family of deer on the run from the sound of a helicopter.

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They'd zigged and they'd zagged for over half an hour. It wasn't until the helicopter went somewhere else did they all stop. "Well that was fun," Rick remarked and saw all the looks he was getting. "Or not."

"Now we have to get back and start packing." They had to start running again only with more purpose.

"Wait…, please. I have a plan that I've been working on. Originally it was only meant for me but with a little work I can add you three to it. There's just one catch and it's a big one. You'll have to trust me."

"Mom, Dad?" Kate left off the please but they both heard it.

"We'll listen while we pack." Jim knew they couldn't stay and it sounded like where they wanted to go was soon going to be equally bad.

"Good, let's get back to…wherever that is?" He had done a lot of zigging and zagging and didn't know anymore.

"This way." Kate smiled widely and headed off since she'd been hunting there. She knew just where they were and how to get back.

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They didn't have a whole lot to pack and they actually waited until after Rick told him his plan. "We're listening," Jim stated. Neither he nor Jo missed noticing that Kate was sitting next to him now.

"I have a home that I own that we can all move to. It's in a different country which is going to be one of the challenges." They were going to have to fly.

"We don't all have identification," Jo said. Hers and Jim's were old and Kate didn't have any at all.

"Initially that isn't going to be a problem. Getting into the country without it will be a problem. It's a good thing I have an idea as to solve that. It is, however, going to slow us down while we wait."

Rick shared the first part. "We need a car and money. Fortunately my parents have lots of cars and I have the money, or access to the money."

"What do we need a car for?" Jo instantly regretted that question. If they were going to a different country they were going to need to fly.

"We need a car to drive to Portland," Rick answered.

"Go to a big city? Are you insane?" Jim hated the idea. They'd spent the last twenty years doing their best to avoid big cities. Any city they'd gone into had been a small one and even then they'd gotten what they wanted and had left just as fast as they could. They skirted small towns because everyone knew everyone else who lived there and they all talked.

"We need to fly to Portland since it's faster and safer. If we drive from Portland to Seattle the police might see us and pull us over; we'd all end up in my father's hands," Rick explained patiently.

"And how is flying safer? We need tickets and we need identification. Surely there's security at an airport." Jim didn't like it.

Rick shook his head. "There is, but only _IF_ we use commercial airlines. We'll be flying charter. All they need is my name; you're just my guests so no identification's needed for you three."

Jim saw a problem with even that bit of news. "Your father will be able to follow you since he'll find out." He was a Rodgers for Christ's sake.

"You'd be right if I was traveling under my real name. But I'll be flying with a name that even my father has no knowledge of. The plan was only for me it meant using a new name that I've already established. We can talk about what your names will be when we get to that point."

Jo inquired nervously, "So why are we flying to Seattle which is an even bigger city?" Seattle sounded even worse than Portland did.

"It's the closest city that has charter flights to a different country." Rick told them more about his plan. "Even then we'll need to travel by train for several hours and will need to change trains to get to our final location. After we pick up a car."

"So where exactly are you taking us?" Jim wanted to know if he thought it was going to be a safe place for his family.

"That's going to be where you have to really trust me since I'm not telling you. If something goes wrong and one or more of you gets captured you won't be able to tell them anything. If I'm the one that gets captured…" He shrugged a shoulder. "We'll need to work out what'll happen then. I'm not taking you with me. My father will probably just beat me for a few days. You three, he'd not hesitate to kill you." Rick was even betting his father would make sure he was forced to watch them die, thinking it would toughen him up.

"So what's first?" Jo was willing, mostly because her daughter was begging her with her eyes. Plus she did want her to have a future.

Rick heaved a relieved sigh. They were definitely willing to go with him. "First we pack up and make it to my father's summer house. We'll get our car there. My mother's to be precise since I know where she keeps the keys."

"That enormous house I saw earlier?" Kate asked. "Can we see it?" She had never set foot in a house anywhere near that nice.

Jim shot that down in a heartbeat. "With his killer father inside it? Forget that!" If it was as bad as he thought he didn't even want to be anywhere near it. "Can you get the car and meet us somewhere instead? Somewhere safer for us?"

Kate groaned. She really wanted to see where he lived. She was betting seeing it would blow her mind.

Rick quickly agreed. "I can which is actually safer for you since the house has armed guards to keep unwanted people out. They likely have orders to shoot first and not ask questions later. Then bury the bodies."

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It was a bit of a hike for them. It was three miles just to reach Rick's little cabin which allowed Kate to show off what Rick had done all by himself.

Jo looked around and smiled. "This is actually pretty impressive." It was tiny but it was far more than what they'd had and had had time after time everywhere they went. Jim liked it as did Jo.

It was another roughly three miles to his parents' summer house. Except they weren't headed there. They were headed to the place where Rick was going to stop and pick them up.

"What's that?" Jim knew what it was, but why was it so low and way out here?

"That's my father's private jet. Something must have come up that required his personal attention. Which is actually good for us. It means he's not home, leaving just my mother and the guards." Rick wasn't a bit sad to see him go.

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Rick was trudging up the road after dropping them off and describing the car, especially the color. He was getting closer when he ran into the first guard who simply waved him on. All the guards knew him by sight even though they didn't answer to him.

He avoided the front door and took one of the side entrances, making his way carefully through the house to his bedroom. Once there he packed only what he needed which was a change of clothes and some personal items. His alternate identity was hidden outside the home, where he was certain his father and mother would never go.

He was doing just fine until he ran almost headlong into his mother after turning a corner. "RICHARD!?" He was back and had almost run her down. "Your father was called away for a couple of days."

"Hello, Mother. Where did he go?" Maybe it was far enough away. Wherever it was it had required him to fly.

"Houston of all places." He hadn't gone somewhere interesting which was mostly why she was still here. "Where are you going?" He had a bag over his shoulder. It wasn't big but why was he carrying anything at all?

"I got caught outside in that last rain and I have a roof leak so I need more clothes." It was only a white lie since he did need the clothes. Except these clothes were far more formal for a city. "When will he be back?" How long did they have was the real question?

"He didn't say. You'd best be here when he gets back, Richard." It was the only warning his mother was going to give him.

"I'll be here, Mother. See you later." Rick started walking since if his plan worked he was never going to see either of them ever again for the rest of his life.

It wasn't her job to teach him and she didn't have the strength her husband had so she could only watch him go. She did, however, watch him leave the house and out into the woods again.

"I don't see what he sees in living out there." She also didn't really see what her husband saw in letting him. When she spoke to Jackson she made a point of telling him that his son had come home for clothes and was gone again.

She was quickly given her orders. She was to have the guards go get him and drag him home if he wasn't there by the time he left Houston. He expected to find his son home when he got there.

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Rick had his ID and his emergency money and found the car key right where it was supposed to be. Throwing his bag into the trunk and getting in the drivers seat, he started up the car and pushed the button to open the garage. With it open he pulled out and pushed the button again to close it then started down the hill.

He actually almost passed them by since he missed seeing the site where he had left them. It was only Kate coming out that got him to stop. He popped the trunk, got them to throw everything with them inside it, and seated Kate up front with Jim and Jo in the back.

"A car!" Kate was looking everywhere and pressing every button she could get her fingers on.

"What kind of car is this?" Jim had never seen anything like it before. The cars he and his wife were used to looked nothing like this, either inside or out.

"It's an Aston Martin Rapide. About two hundred seven thousand dollars," Rick replied.

Jim whistled; Jo's mouth fell open. "WHAT!?" Kate had no concept of just how much money that really was. And that was just the car, not including the house. Rick was glad he hadn't brought one of his father's precious collector cars. Those had cost millions each. He had more money in his cars than he did in the house.

"Portland, here we come. …After we stop for gas and maybe something to eat." He didn't know about the others but he was hungry. Since he couldn't stop for long it was going to be fast food eaten in the car. Maybe adding a stop at a rest area on the interstate for a bathroom break.

Kate was all eyes once they reached the interstate. She'd never seen this many cars in one place in her life. Nor had she ever traveled this FAST! "Is this thing safe!?" He was passing other cars, but some other cars were passing them at an even greater speed. He knew he couldn't afford to give any cop a reason to pull them over so while he was speeding, he wasn't speeding that much.

Rick chuckled softly when he noticed Kate grabbing hold of the seat belt across her chest.


	8. Chapter 8

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 8_

"What do I do now, Mom?" She was done and had even figured out what the paper was for.

"Use your foot and press that handle sticking out the side," Jo said since she'd done this before, even if it had been a while.

Kate reached out with her foot and pushed. What happened next had her screeching and flinging the door open to get away from that thing! It had made this loud noise and then a lot of water showed up and everything went down the hole in the bottom.

"It's supposed to do that. It's a toilet," Jo soothed. Kate washed her hands then her mom escorted her back outside where they joined the men.

"It's supposed to do that? Where does it all go?" She'd used a hole in the ground all her life.

They soon left the rest area and were back on the Interstate. The car had GPS so Rick was following what it literally told him. Kate had held her tongue until now. "How does it know where we're going?" All of this was totally new to her. Rick paid attention to where he was going while Jo and Jim explained everything to her.

"We've been up there?" Kate pointed at the ceiling since up there somewhere was where the moon was. "Seriously? …Can _we_ go?" Being on the moon sounded really cool to her.

Rick was parking the car at the airport while Jim and Jo were still explaining how things worked in a world she knew little about. Unfortunately even Jim and Jo didn't know all that much any longer. They'd been off the grid for a really long time while Kate had been off the grid all her life.

"You should probably wait here. I'll be right back." What the charter people didn't know was probably good.

"What's flying like?" Kate was really curious. Because it was looking like she was going to find out.

They were starting to wonder if Rick was ever going to come back when he suddenly reappeared. "I chartered a flight to Sea-Tac tomorrow, we're leaving just after lunch. It's a quick flight so it won't take long. Now we need a hotel room to stay in for the night and then go find dinner." Rick started the car and headed back out of the airport area to find the first hotel he could easily reach.

Rick liked the look of Embassy Suites when he saw it so he stopped there. "Stay here, they only really need to see me and don't need your identification." He left them in the car and came back about fifteen minutes later. Then he moved the car closer to their room.

They were on the second floor and Kate watched as he put a plastic card in a slot; a green light glowed and he opened the door. The entire building was something she wasn't used to seeing.

"This looks familiar," Jo remarked. It was an average hotel room with a pair of double beds side by side with a small table between them. "Jim, you sleep with Rick and I'll take Katie." Kate didn't dare say anything. Besides it wasn't like she was going to do anything with her parents in the same room.

"We can take turns in the shower then go find dinner," Rick suggested and sat down on one of the beds after dropping his small bag. "If you have a change of clothing you should put it on after you get cleaned up then give me the clothes you're wearing. I'll find the hotel's laundry room when we get back and wash them."

Jo only took a second to tell her husband that she was going first. "I haven't had a hot shower in so very long." She was going to spend forever in there.

Jo was still in the shower when Kate got up and knocked. "Mom! I need to pee."

Jim glanced at Kate. "She says the door isn't locked." Kate went into the bathroom and sat on the toilet which looked very different from the last one. The room was also very humid and very warm. She could tell her mother was behind a curtain but she couldn't really see her.

She was done and standing there, looking at it. "There's no handle."

"It's a little one near the top; just press down on it with your hand," Jo explained. Kate watched as the thing sent water into the bowl. It all went down the hole at the bottom and then started filling with water again. "Cool!" It didn't stink, either.

Kate went next, followed by Jim, then Rick. Rick stuffed all of their clothes into his bag along with his to take down to the laundry room when they got back.

The hotel didn't have a restaurant so Rick looked up a few in the binder located in the room. "Shilo Restaurant might be close." He found a pen and paper and wrote down the address so he could plug it into the GPS. It turned out to be just the other side of Interstate 205 so it wasn't all that far.

Kate spent her time with her eyes open wide and she was sure her mouth was wide open as well as she followed the person that seated them. She had never seen anything like this place. "Do all cities have these places?" There were people all over and almost all of them were eating.

After orders of water they were all looking at the menu. Rick cleared his throat to get their attention. "Order anything you want. I can afford it and more." Then he began reading the menu.

"Jim, they have steak! Ribeye and filet mignon, no less." She hadn't had a steak in longer than she could remember.

"What's that?" Kate didn't really recognize any of it even though she could read every word.

"Try this, Katie." Jo pointed at something, having had already made her own choice. "You've never had chicken before."

Katie read the menu. _Chicken Marsala, pan seared free__-__range chicken and sautéed mushrooms in a __M__arsala wine sauce served with mashed potatoes and vegetables._ It didn't make any sense but if her mother suggested it she was fine with that.

She was a little put out when everyone else ordered the filet mignon then said medium when asked how they wanted it cooked. Jo ordered lemonade for their family while Rick ordered something that had the word beer in it.

Jim started laughing. "I haven't had a beer for so long it would make me drunk before I even finished." He hadn't been in a place like this in a long time, either.

Jo really wanted to ask if he could really afford this until she remembered he was a Rodgers. Which only made this that much more strange. Then she had a question for her husband. _"Is this our last dinner?" _It was all just totally surreal.

"_I was just wondering __the same thing__. It's just everything he has said and done all adds up," _Jim replied.

"_Katie has a lot of faith in him__,__" _Jo pointed out.

"_I noticed which is why we__'__re never leaving them alone together until we get __to wherever it is that we're going__." _If Rick really did care for Katie, Jim was hoping he wouldn't do anything with them around.

All four of them almost inhaled their food. "This is really good." Kate was amazed. Almost all of it was something she'd never had before and it tasted pretty good.

Jim and Jo sat back and sigh loudly. Eating a real steak after all this time had been really good. But the thought that this might be their last meal worried both of them.

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Rick ended up being gone for an hour but came back with a bag filled with clean clothes that got handed out to whom they belonged. Jo sniffed them and smiled. It had been a long time since her clothes smelled like this.

"They serve breakfast if you're interested. We'll have to go early since I need to drop you off at the airport, get rid of the car somewhere, and make my way back to the airport," Rick said.

"My father will eventually find the car. If I leave it at the airport he'll have a good idea that I left that way, begin checking to see where all of the flights went, and have all of those airports searched. Charter flights don't have security cameras so he'll never see me if he looks." He'd planned this far ahead even if it had only been intended just for him.

It was when they were almost there that he wondered if everything was ready since he was making his move a little early.

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Jim and Jo had at least been in an airport before. However, they'd never been in a charter plane area. It didn't look anything like they remembered. Thankfully it was just them and the man behind the desk as they waited for Rick to come back.

Rick, meanwhile, drove into the middle of downtown Portland where he found a place to park his mother's Aston Martin Rapide close to a light rail stop and just left it. He didn't bother paying to park it since he didn't care how many parking tickets it racked up. It wasn't his car and he wasn't going to pay the fines.

He did pay for a train pass and worked out what train he needed to reach the airport. After that he began walking toward the charter plane area and arrived with two hours to spare. He noticed that all three of them looked very happy to see him. Suddenly he had an armful of a very happy Kate who looked ready to kiss him until she remembered her parents were watching.

"That should give my father something to think about." The car wasn't anywhere near the airport though it was closer to the train station so he would probably start with it first. Plus he was going to have to search all of Portland to see if he was hiding there. Not that he wouldn't have the airport searched as well. He'd eventually make it to the charter flights but Rick was hoping to be well out of Seattle by then. He really needed to stay at least one step ahead of his father for this to work.

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Kate stopped to look at the plane. It didn't look anything like the ones she'd seen taking off from the airport. How anything that big actually flew was amazing.

Rick stepped up next to her as Jim and Jo went up the steps to get inside. "It's only for us. It's a twin turbo prop instead of a jet. It's perfectly safe." He guided her up the stairs and she sat right in front of him with her parents on the other side. The door thunked closed then she heard the engines start. She watched with awe as the blades spun faster and faster until she could no longer actually see them.

They rode for what felt like forever and then stopped. Moved again only to stop again. They did that four more times. Then a voice came from nowhere. "We're next so buckle up back there."

"What?" Kate had no idea what he was talking about. Jo got up, dug her daughter's seat belt out out of the cushions, and secured her to her seat.

Kate's face was glued to the little window as they surged forward faster and faster until suddenly the ground fell away. "WE'RE FLYING!" If it was always this easy she could learn to like it.

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The landing had been mostly one big bump and they just traveled forever and ever until finally the plane stopped and the blades began to stop spinning. Finally the door opened and they followed Rick out and into the waiting area.

"Now what?" Jim inquired since this was Rick's plan.

"This is where it gets difficult. You three need new identification. I hadn't planned on getting one since I have one. But I know a guy and you three will need to come with me. He'll need to take pictures and have you sign your names. What I don't know is how long that will take him or what it will cost. So taxi, shuttle service, or rent a car. Then we need another hotel until he's ready."

Rick also needed to think about what to do immediately. A taxi kept records of where they went and the airport terminal area would have cameras. The shuttle service was in the same area, so more cameras. Rental companies meant he needed to use his new ID again. However this place didn't have cameras that he could see. "Would you call us a taxi, please?" he asked the man at the desk. They were soon waiting for a taxi to arrive.

Rick had the hotel's address in his head but he gave the taxi driver a different address. They would just have to walk the rest of the way.

It was a long drive into downtown Seattle and the driver was more than happy to take them since it meant a large fare.

"How is this bridge floating on water?" Kate's eyes were open wide as they came out of a tunnel, went down and out onto the water before going back up again, into a place that had buildings that were really, really tall. There was also people all over the place.

"DAD!" Kate took a hold of him. They were shifters and they had told her over and over again that cities were dangerous for them.

Jim sent it all back on her. "You wanted us to trust him, Katie."

There were people everywhere. "But…" What her father said caused her to let go of him and latch onto Rick instead.

Maybe this really was a very bad idea. They were going to be spotted soon, captured, then killed. At that moment Rick started walking, giving Kate no choice but to go with him along with her parents who were right behind them.

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They'd met a guy who sounded like he'd met Rick before. He took their pictures and had them sign something several times. They watched as Rick handed over money then was told to come back around 7:00 pm in two days.

They were back outside. "Now we need a hotel and then food." Problem was Rick didn't know if he wanted a Motel 6 or something a whole lot better. Either way he was going to have to sign in to get a room. So where would his father start first if he followed them this far?

In the end Rick decided on a hotel with a view. They might as well get to see something since none of them were ever going to be back in Seattle again.

_Seattle Marriott Waterfront_

Their room was on the seventh floor. It had two beds just like last time. This time the carpet was blue with white waves in it. The bedding was all white and the walls were beige. There was a comfortably-sized bathroom with a single sink, a toilet, and a tub with a shower. Much to Kate's delight they had a balcony with two chairs and a small table. They could even see a little water.

"They have laundry facilities like the last place. They also have an outdoor/indoor pool if you have suits which you likely don't have and neither do I. But we can go shopping if you want to go swimming," Rick offered.

"Swimming! …Please?" Kate looked at her parents.

"I have the money and we can ask the front desk where to go that's close," Rick said, smiling.

"_What do you think?" _Jo asked her husband silently.

Jim shrugged. _"What the hell. If we're going to die eventually __we__ might as well have some fun." _It really wasn't what Jo wanted to hear but he had a point.

Jo caved in easily. "Shopping it is."

"YES!" Kate was overjoyed!

Back downstairs they went while Rick asked the front desk where to go. "She said Public Market Center in Pike Place Market is the closest if we want to walk it. About six blocks down the road on the other side of the freeway. …That way." Rick looked out the front door and pointed to the right.

Kate didn't mind walking at all. "I've walked miles to go hunting."

However, she really wasn't prepared for all the buildings, cars, and people that were everywhere. The worse it got the harder she squeezed Rick's arm. It wasn't until they actually entered a store that she released her hold on him.

It took an hour and a few shops but all of them finally had a swim suit. "These are just bras and panties, Mom." Save for that it was a lot more colorful Kate didn't see the difference.

"They're meant to impress the man in your life." Bikinis were meant for the woman to show off and impress.

"Ohhh." Kate did her best to find what she thought was the sexiest one she could find that fit her.

It had taken them a little over two hours to get them and come back. They were all hungry by then so they ate at the hotel's restaurant when they got back. "Hook and Plow." Kate wasn't sure what that meant but the walls were all glass from floor to ceiling with a view of the outside.

"What's Kale Pasta?" Kate had no idea and the description didn't help any.

"Just order the fish and chips, you'll like it," Jo suggested while ordering the pan roasted salmon for herself. Kate listened to her dad order something called an Angus burger, while Rick ordered pan seared scallops. She shrugged, taking her mother's advice and asking for fish and chips. This time Jim did get a beer with Rick and while she thought about it her mother ordered a drink for her.

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Jim was in his suit as was Johanna. They were waiting for Kate to come out of the bathroom in hers and when she did Kate saw she had Rick's undivided attention. She instantly decided that she liked wearing a swimsuit.

"Oh boy, are we in trouble." Jo commented to her husband who only nodded. Katie hadn't just chosen any bikini, either. She had chosen one that had a thong bottom.

Kate had seen herself in the mirror and only then really noticed just how much of her ass was exposed. She had originally put it on backwards as she tried to work out which side was the front. She didn't even think about all the pubic hair that she was showing since she most definitely didn't have a bikini cut.

"We need to get a razor and soon, like now, Jim." It was time to teach her daughter how to shave her large pubic bush. Jim was a little bashful about it but he went to Rick to ask for money so he could go downstairs and buy a razor for Katie to use.

He returned and handed the bag to Jo who turned to her daughter. "You're with me, Katie." She took her into the bathroom and started explaining the facts of life when living in a city and wearing a swimsuit like that in public.

Trying to see what she was doing without a mirror was the biggest challenge since Jo had left it to her to do after explaining how to do it.

Kate was relieved; she couldn't see a single hair after she put her bottoms back on. She wasn't sure she liked it since she'd never had it this close before. In fact she barely had any hair left. Still her mother nodded her approval.

Finally in the pool Kate did all she could to make sure she stuck really close to Rick. What she wanted to do was kiss him but her parents seemed to only have eyes for her which was starting to piss her off.

She was happy that Rick's eyes were locked on her. She caught him looking at her breasts a lot and occasionally between her legs and her really exposed ass. Yeah, they were definitely going to have sex eventually. Her only dilemma was would it happen when she was human or when she was her animal? With the knowledge that she would end up bonded with him at the front of her mind.


	9. Chapter 9

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 9_

Jackson was on his plane back to his summer home. _"Where is he?" _He meant his son and Martha readily knew that.

"_I don't know. Probably in that little cabin of his that you let him build." _Why her mate slash husband had let him build that stupid little thing escaped her. She had seen pictures of it, inside and out. It was tiny. It was filthy. It was utterly disgusting. She refused to even walk down to it let alone into it. Heaven only knew what animals or insects were crawling all around that squalid place.

Jackson was all set to yell at her, but she was right. He _had _ let him. He'd thought at the time that having to do it on his own would be good for him. Learn what having complete control was like. He was starting to regret his decision.

"_I'll find him. Tell me when he gets there." _It wasn't a request and Martha knew it. It was a command and she would do it. Right after she gave her son a thorough tongue lashing which would be nothing compared to what her mate was going to do to him.

It had been a few years since he had whipped her son. That was probably going to change and soon. Martha headed for the kitchen and chose a good bottle of wine to open while her husband was on the phone ordering the guards to go down to his little cabin and bring him back to the house, bound and gagged if they had to.

He was still considering what he was going to do to his son when the phone rang. Being in complete control of an entire country was tiring work. His idea that his son would handle part of the load was hitting a few snags. However, he always got what he wanted so his son was going to be no different.

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They were back to collect their identification from the guy Rick knew. "You're sure we can trust him?" They were still outside and Jim was worried that this was a trap. They were shifters, after all. His father might be able to protect _him,_ but they were as good as dead.

"I got my fake ID from him so we should be good. It's why I'm Richard Castle now instead of Rodgers," Rick replied, leaving the taxi behind and waiting for them to follow him inside.

Jim and Jo knew what being a Rodgers meant. They'd never heard of a Castle before.

A mere thirty minutes later they were in another taxi for the ride back to their hotel room.

Once in their room the three of them looked over what the guy had done more closely. They all had passports from a different country which had their real names and even their real dates of birth. Everything else on them was fake, save for their signatures and photos. Jim wanted to ask him why this country, but he thought Rick would just deflect and not tell them where they were going.

"I'm going down to the business center and get online to buy airline tickets for us, hopefully for tomorrow." He wanted out of Seattle and especially this country as fast as possible. His father had long arms but even he had to work with locals in a different country so the sooner they were out of the U.S. the better. He had no illusions that it was going to cost him an arm and a leg, but it was worth it.

"Better stay here for now. We can decide what to do next when I get back." Rick left them in the room; he went down to the ground floor, used his key to get into the business center, and went online to purchase airline tickets. He whistled when he got his first result. He was proven correct. Eleven thousand three hundred seventy-five dollars per person in first class. The flight was British Airways that departed at 1:35 pm tomorrow and arrived at 7:05 am the next day. Thankfully it was a non-stop flight.

He used his Richard Castle credit card that had a P.O. Box as an address in yet a different country that he was likely never going to set foot in, but he would find a way to pay the bill anyway. His P.O. Box was a real address which was how he had been approved for it.

They also needed tickets to get out of where they were going. Those tickets turned out to cost a whole lot less. Only three hundred thirty-eight dollars per person in business class. Though the earliest he could get was the next day which meant staying a night before leaving again. That would require getting a hotel room for the four of them.

The train left at 9:22 am and arrived at 12:47 pm. Just in time for lunch.

St. Pancras Hotel. His only difficulty with this place was that for four people he needed two rooms. Hopefully they were okay with that. He was certainly okay with it if he got Kate for a roommate. But he doubted it. It was only two hundred fifty-six pounds for the one night, so he booked it.

Now he needed a hotel for where the train took them. After that he would play it by ear.

Hotel Hor. Once again they would have to have two different rooms. Only this time the site talked about the rooms being connected. It was only steps away from the train station. He decided they might need two nights there while he made arrangements for their next stop. It was only nine hundred sixty dollars which was more than acceptable to him.

Satisfied that everything was taken care of, he logged out, picked up all of his printed material, and went back upstairs to explain everything to them.

Rick broke it down for them. "We fly non-stop tomorrow from Seattle to London. Then we take a train via the Chunnel to Paris the next day after staying in a hotel in London near the station. There'll be two days in Paris while I make arrangements for the next leg of our journey. Probably another train trip, followed by a hotel stay, followed by another train trip and hotel stay. After that I have to work out how to get to the closest town for four of us, buy a car, drive to the site, then travel to where we'll be staying."

"PARIS!" Kate had heard about Paris and was dying to stay and see it.

"PARIS?" Jim and Jo were not quite as enthused about that or even being in London. They were both really large cities and excellent places to be spotted, get picked up, then killed.

Rick knew just what Jim and Jo were thinking. "We're not staying long in any of these places. I don't want to get picked up, either. I don't even want to think what my father will do to me if he finds me." Besides having his back ripped open to the point he needed stitches he didn't know what else he would do to him for this.

Jim and Jo and even Kate remained silent. They were going to be killed. Probably quickly and almost painlessly. Rick was risking days, weeks, maybe even longer periods of torture; they all shuddered at the memory of what his back looked like. They didn't want to think what his father would do to all of them.

"Paris, can we see it? …PLEASE?" Kate wanted to stop thinking about what his father was going to do to Rick. The idea of what he would do sickened her.

Rick crumbled like a cookie. "I can see if there's a tour we can join." It wasn't like people could just tell a shifter when they saw one. As far as he knew the guards at the summer home didn't know they were shifters.

"YES!" Kate got up and kissed him quickly, ignoring the looks her parents were giving her. She was overlooking one thing, though. A tour through Paris meant being surrounded by lots and lots of people. Something she had already shown that she was uncomfortable doing.

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Kate had Rick's arm in a vise-like grip as they traveled through the airport. He had a code so all he needed was a kiosk to get their boarding passes. But it didn't get any better for Kate. There weren't any less people past this point than there were before.

Then they had to sit and wait for their flight. "I need to pee," Kate told him quietly.

Rick pointed down the walkway. "The ladies room is back that way."

Kate looked and all she saw was people everywhere. "Can you come with me?" She wasn't going anywhere alone.

He shook his head. "Into a ladies room? Not a chance, sorry. Get your mom to take you." It was the best he could think of.

Kate groaned. She was nineteen years old; it was the year 1999 and she didn't need her mother's help to pee or poop any longer.

She had Rick on one side and her dad on the other and there were people sitting, standing, and walking everywhere.

"You can wait outside. Just get me there, maybe?" Her mother was too far away to ask and people were everywhere. What if one of them knew what a shifter looked like?

"Fine!" Rick really didn't get it but he let her hang onto his arm until they stopped just outside of the entrance. He waited impatiently for her to come back out.

There were women all over inside, too, and she even had to wait for a stall door to open. When she came back out Rick was there waiting for her. "If it's the number of people that's bothering you it isn't going to get any better any time soon. I can promise you Paris will be even worse." It was a hot vacation city.

That gave Kate something to think about after she sat back down.

Finally they were on their flight and in the air. This plane, she noticed, was a whole lot bigger and had a lot of people sitting in a lot of seats.

"They feed us?" Kate whispered when even before they took off she was asked what she wanted to drink and was offered something to eat. She wiggled happily in her seat, pleased that it was a lot bigger than the other one.

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Rick took quick cat naps while the rest of them actually went to sleep. "Beer, please, anything will do." He wasn't that picky.

"Here you are, sir." She gave him a cold bottle and a glass to pour it into if he wanted. He didn't and simply drank from the bottle.

They had their choice of movies to watch on the little screen in front of them and you could keep track of where you were during the flight.

Kate chose the Chicken Parmesan for her meal. She found that while it wasn't bad, it wasn't all that good either, but she was hungry.

She was totally enthralled by the movie she was watching later in the flight. It was called _The Iron Giant _and she had to admit that he really was big and made of iron. She really didn't understand what a nuke was, but everyone in the movie was scared of the thing even if they had sent it. Then really late in the movie she watched it explode out in space and destroy the giant who took it there. He had sacrificed himself. "Do we really have things that blow up like that?" Kate whispered to Rick who was sitting next to her.

"Thousands of them. Enough to destroy the entire planet." Rick regretted that right after he'd said it. It wasn't really something she needed to hear and he should have just kept his big mouth shut.

Kate watched the rest of her movie with a new understanding of the world that she lived in. Then she leaned in even closer to him. "And your father has control over all of them?" He could kill everyone on the planet if he wanted.

"A lot of them, yeah." A few thousand to be sure.

Kate sat back in her chair. "Great." Though it was anything but great.

She chose something called _Puss __in__ Boots _next and much to her delight, saw that it had a walking, talking cat that fought with a sword. Then suddenly her movie stopped and she had to listen to something about how they would be starting their descent into Heathrow soon.

The cat had just been made a fool of by a female cat which had Kate grinning when suddenly her movie just stopped and the screen went blue and then black. "CRAP!" She wanted to know what happened next.

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Getting to the hotel had been easy, even if they had walked a really long way only to be stopped and asked questions after showing the passport control officer her passport. _"Business or pleasure, Miss?"_ "Pleasure." _"How long are you staying?" _ "I'm spending the night before going to Paris." She was still interested in seeing Paris regardless of the hoards of people. She watched him stamp her book and hand it back.

"We leave at about 9:30 in the morning," Rick reminded them after they got their keys to the hotel room. "Get settled and we can go find food."

Sure enough he ended up with Jim instead of Kate just as he figured.

The closest food was actually a bar where they all had fish and chips. Kate even talked herself into having her very first beer. "Which one do I want?" There were a lot of choices. The imports were American, Canadian, and Mexican.

"You're in England, drink the local beer," Rick told her and pointed at one.

"Guinness, please." Kate was happy. Except when it showed up it was really dark and had beige foam on the top. "This is beer?" It was at least a really big glass.

It tasted pretty good and by the time she was done she was really happy and a little giddy. Rick smiled at her. "I think one's your limit." Jim and Jo were quick to agree.

"One per month, maybe." Jim was mostly teasing.

"Nooo!" Kate wasn't happy with that idea. It had been tasty and she was thinking another one was a good idea.

"Paris has wine that you'll like that even better," Rick said which had her back to smiling wide.

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Rick was sliding into bed as Jim came out of the bathroom. "I suppose we're going to find out what Kate's like with a hangover in the morning."

"You learn by doing and most likely." Jim was grinning since he was betting his wife already had her hands full. No sooner he had thought it when…

"_Katie never drinks another beer…ever! I can't even get her to take her clothes off. All I get is __**NOOO**__!" _Jo fumed at him which had Jim chuckling.

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Kate left her mother and actually gave Rick her bag of clothes; she leaned on him as they walked.

"How does she feel?" Jim inquired even if what he was seeing told him.

"I don't think we're going to have a problem keeping her from drinking another beer any time soon," Jo responded with a grin.

There were a lot fewer people on the train and their seats were almost as small as the ones on the twin turbo prop.

"Why is it dark?" Kate questioned as the view out all of the windows showed blackness. There wasn't anything to see except an occasional light that flashed past them. Some of them were even green in color.

"This train goes under the English Channel. It's basically this big body of water. It was that or a boat and it might be raining right now." That hadn't sounded like a whole lot of fun to him.

"We're under water? Does it leak?" Kate went back to watching out the window looking for water. Her life used to be so simple. She hunted for food while avoiding being found and killed. Now here she was in cities surrounded by people who wanted her dead. She was flying in planes and now she was in a train under water but not drowning. If it wasn't for wanting to be with Rick, she would beg to go back to the forest.

"This better be worth it," Kate muttered to herself as she kept watch on what was outside the window.

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They had survived traveling under water. Their hotel in Paris was practically just across the street from when they got off the train. "We check in, go eat, then find a tour for tomorrow. I need to figure out how to reach our next destination, too," Rick said as they began walking. He had to stay out in front of his father and hopefully lose him.

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Martha had never, ever seen her husband this furious. Furious enough that it had her backing out of the room.

He'd already found out from the guards that his pathetic little cabin had been found empty and that his fire was cold. That told him that his son hadn't been there for some time.

What Rick hadn't known was that all of his father's cars had transponders in them. Including the one that his mother had been allowed to drive.

Of course Jackson had found out that his wife's car was missing. It was the very last car she would ever be allowed to drive for the rest of her life. All he had to do to find it was open his computer to find out where it was.

"**PORTLAND! DOWNTOWN FUCKING PORTLAND!**"Martha watched for a short time as he flew into a rage the likes of which she had never seen. He proceeded to break everything in the room and from what she could hear through the door she closed as she left, he was literally breaking everything.

When he finally came out he was naked. He then stormed off to another section of the house. When she looked inside she saw his shredded clothes scattered across the room. The walls had not just holes but massive gashes that were mostly made by his tiger's claws. The desk was destroyed; the hardwood floors had also taken a beating. Even the windows in the room were broken. The expensive wood ceiling had also been damaged. She didn't understand how he had managed to jump that high even if he was his tiger.

She was so very grateful that he'd simply walked right past her. Though he had, in fact, not even recognized that she was even standing there.

She found him in the kitchen drinking from a bottle of bourbon and his glass was presently empty. She knew it was the most expensive bourbon on the planet.

"He thinks he is escaping me. MY OWN SON!" She watched as he threw his glass that went through one of the windows in the kitchen. "I've already dispatched a team to Portland to tear that city apart. They'll kill whoever they have to in order to find him. Then He. Will. Learn what it means to cross me. …MY OWN SON!" He picked up the bottle that had cost a small fortune and threw it through yet another window.

Then she watched as he stormed out of the kitchen. If she was lucky there would be something left that she could call son. She had no idea what her son thought he was doing. His father was in charge of everything around her and that included this country. He stood no chance of eluding her mate.

Suddenly there was a colossal explosion somewhere out in the forest. She could see the fireball rising up into the sky. What she didn't see were the now tiny pieces of what had once been her son's cabin being thrown everywhere. Nor did she see the enormous hole in the ground where it had used to be.

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"So which one?" Rick looked at Kate, Jim, and Jo. He watched as each of them looked over the brochures yet again. He didn't really care which one though he was looking forward to it. He was just willing to make them all happy. He simply waited as they talked to each other.

Kate revealed their choice. "We'd like to see this one, please. **Illuminations of Paris Night Tour & Moulin Rouge Show from Paris.**"

He read the brochure to see what it was that made them pick that one, even if it was two hundred dollars and sixty-six cents per person.

_Guests will be picked up from the specified departure location in __**Paris**__. We will see why Paris is beautiful by day and breathtaking by night, known around the world as the "City of Lights." We will visit some of the city's most famous monuments and landmarks as they are brilliantly illuminated against the backdrop of the dramatic night sky. Audio commentary is available in sixteen different languages. Afterwards, we will see a show at the famous __**Moulin Rouge**__ cabaret while enjoying a delicious three-course dinner. This is an exciting way to experience a truly unique aspect of Parisian culture._

He had to admit that it sounded nice and it lasted about five hours

• Evening City Tour with Recorded Commentary Through Personal Earphones

• Services of a Multilingual Hostess/Interpreter

• Moulin Rouge Cabaret Second Show (First Show Sunday-Thursday in Winter)

• One half bottle of Champagne Per Person

• Transportation to the Near Vicinity of Your Hotel After the Show

They had time until the tour started so Rick went to see how to get to their next stop tomorrow after their tour and their stay in Paris.


	10. Chapter 10

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter__10_

The Paris tour and show had proven to be very nice. After the show they went all the way to the Eiffel Tower and Rick paid to get each of them to the top to see the city lights.

Now they were on yet another train headed to yet another city. Jim and Jo weren't really happy about being in cites again. They'd spent all this time avoiding them and now they couldn't get out of them. They were headed to Frankfurt, Germany, and it was going to take them three hours and forty-eight minutes using a TGV, one of France's high-speed trains. This time they were in coach instead of first class. If his father made it this far Rick didn't want to be predictable in how he traveled.

Rick had thought they were going to have to stay in Frankfurt, however, since twenty-three trains ran this trip per day and another thirty trains went from Frankfurt to Zurich, he arranged it so that all they had to do was change trains. The only real drawback was it made for a long day since the entire trip was going to last over nine hours, not including getting from one train to the next and the wait for the second train.

"Switzerland?" Jim had learned of their next destination since it was advertised where they were going at the station.

"Yep, Switzerland," Rick nodded. "We'll be stopping there for a couple of days before moving on. Maybe another tour possibly?" The last one had worked out pretty well. Since that was what was on their passports it told Jim that they would be staying in this country for a while.

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Their hotel wasn't all that far in comparison to how far they'd usually walked back in the forest. It was only a half mile from the station to the hotel.

**Hotel**** Storchen Zurich**

This time they had a bedroom that had a double bed and a living room that had a queen sleeper sofa.

"Take a look around. I have a couple of things I need to purchase before when we leave," Rick told them.

"Can I come?" Kate knew it meant she might be surrounded by people again but she felt she was starting to get better at it.

"Sure, if you like." He wasn't doing anything that special for this trip.

"See you later, mom and dad." Kate slipped her hand in the crook of Rick's arm and went with him.

"So what are we doing? More clothes, maybe?" They each barely had two different outfits. Whatever they weren't wearing got washed at each stop. She was betting the same applied here.

Rick acquiesced. "We can do that here. In this case we need a GPS and to buy a used car. We'll be driving from here on."

"Driving. So we're staying in Switzerland?" Granted they could drive longer and even go back to Germany.

"You'll find out." He really wanted it to be a surprise for all of them.

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Jo stroked her mate's cheek. "What are you thinking, love?"

"I wish I had known about all these big cities, though I supposed it wouldn't have stopped us from coming. I'm just not happy with the big city surprises. And as to where we're going?" Jim shook his head. "I have no idea. Rick still hasn't said anything to me." He shrugged. "Austria or Hungary, maybe. For all I know we're heading for Greece next. Or Turkey, for all I know. I don't know of any place that's truly safe for us."

"Or him," Jo added and Jim nodded in agreement.

"We'll be killed and he'll get punished. I still can't believe what his father's done and has planned for our country. So much has changed since we went into hiding. What a mess." Jo sat down since if she didn't she might fall down as she thought more about it.

Jim sat next to her, put his arm around her, and felt her lean into him. She could really use a hug about now. "We did what we thought was best, Jo. Based on what we know now, his father could have found us long ago. Katie might not have even made it to three let alone nineteen." He felt her shudder. It was so much worse than what they'd thought.

"I can't help but wonder what it is we're going to find when we get there. Wherever _there_ is. Another shack or a mansion filled with servants? A Rodgers can afford a lot," Jo mused out loud.

"Except he's traveling as a Castle. What I want to know is where he's getting all this money. This room even has a living room with a bedroom." It was the best place so far. And they were staying there for two nights.

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Martha saw him walking around smiling. "You found him?"

"The fool bought an airline ticket for Moscow using his credit card. As if that was going to stop me from having him picked up and brought back here. It just makes it more of a challenge. I've already ordered a team into the city to find him. He'll be back here soon." Jackson was already thinking about what he was going to do to him when he was.

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"A car?" Kate got out of the taxi and followed Rick into a place that had a lot of cars sitting around. She let Rick do all the talking since she didn't know anything about cars. "It needs to fit four." That was about all she knew.

Except she couldn't resist looking for herself. "Ooo, you're cute! Why can't you have more than two seats. A… Boxter?" It sounded like a weird name so she moved on.

Kate caught up to Rick who was looking at something. "Why this one?" It looked a little boxy, though it did have room for four people and then some. She looked inside and saw that it was really different. She stood beside Rick and watched the salesman lift the top up; it had a soft side and you could see through some of it. "What is it?"

"It's a Volkswagen T4 California Camper. It has a sink and a two burner stove. The back folds down into a bed for two and there's a bed up top, too. We can buy a tent and go camping in the woods with it. Plus I can afford it," Rick said to her.

"Okay…, I think." It was white and she watched as something on the back folded down. She pointed at it, wanting to know more.

"That's a place to put our food and other things like that tent, sleeping bags, air mattresses, water, lots of things," Rick explained.

Kate still wasn't really sold. But she soon found Rick putting in the address for their hotel and they were driving away.

"What are you doing?" He kept moving this big stick that was located between them.

"I'm shifting gears. This one has a manual transmission. The other car had an automatic transmission which means it shifted by itself." He kept driving and shifting until they stopped at a gas station. He put diesel in the tank, filling it while he could.

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"We have a car…, I think," Kate said to her parents since she still wasn't all that sure just what it was.

"Don't listen to her. It's a mini camper. The top lifts up so there's room to stand up. It has two propane burners for cooking. And a small sink with water. If we add a tent we can go camping. It even has space on the back for cargo." Rick kind of liked it. They might actually use it as a camper one day. "And it's only a year-old, a1998 model with very few miles on it. Almost brand new."

Rick did a test on his GPS and put in where he wanted to go. "Two hours and ten minutes to town." He knew they had to change vehicles not long after that to get to where they were going. Satisfied, he turned it off, locked it, and went into the hotel.

"So we're driving next?" Jim asked him when he got into the room.

"We only have only roughly a hundred and sixty kilometers left to go. Just a little over two hours driving, so we're almost there." That was all Rick was willing to tell them until they got there.

He needed to change the subject. "Have you looked at tours yet?" So far Jim and Jo had been pretty good at letting him lead them. He was really stretching their patience, he was certain.

"No more big cities, I promise. In fact the closest town where we'll be getting groceries has just over two thousand people. The language might be a small problem. They mostly all speak Romansh Sursilvan. Don't worry, we'll work it out." Rick waved his hand at them to forget it.

"I've never even heard of that language." It was totally new to Jim. Jo was shaking her head since she hadn't either.

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"Have you decided?" Rick had selected a couple and wanted to see if they had selected one of them.

"This one." Kate pointed to the one they'd agreed on.

**Swiss Alps Day Trip from Zurich: Jungfraujoch and Bernese Oberland**

_Ascend to one of Europe's highest peaks on a full-day trip to the magnificent mountain region of Jungfrau from Zurich. With a knowledgeable guide, travel by luxury coach through the scenic splendor of the Bernese Oberland region, and then board a cogwheel train in the charming village of Grindelwald. Ascend the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Jungfraujoch mountain pass and absorb sweeping vistas of a sprawling Alpine wonderland from the vertiginous vantage point of the Sphinx Observatory. Explore the enchanting depths of an Ice Palace and capture fabulous photographs of the breath-taking landscape during your tour._

It was a twelve hour trip and it cost two hundred fifty-three dollars and seventy-six cents per person. Rick was certainly willing to go on it. Since it was a twelve hour trip they made reservations for tomorrow.

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There were only eight people in the tour's van so Kate was comfortable. It really was a twelve hour trip. It had been a very fun trip. They all saw things they were never going to see again. Much like the other tours.

With clean clothes that they'd just bought that morning before checking out of their hotel, they got into Rick's new camper and started driving. Jim looked at his GPS and saw part of it.

_Swiss Federal Highways A3 and A13(E43) to the San Bernardino road tunnel._ He wasn't sure just what that told him, though it did tell him that they were staying in Switzerland. It was an interesting choice and he intended to ask him why when he had a chance after they arrived.

Rick pointed to his left. "Lichtenstein is just little ways that way," he mentioned and kept driving. They had started out going east but now they were going south. The mountains of the Alps were right in front of their faces and they looked beautiful. In fact what they saw of the entire countryside as they drove was lovely.

Jo wondered quietly to herself if where they were going looked anything like the really cute houses they kept passing. They really were lovely to look at.

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"We're here," Rick announced then quickly corrected himself. "Well, almost." They were only just reaching the town they were all about to get to know very well over the coming years.

**Lumnezia**

They were still really close to the Alps. Rick just kept driving into and through the town which gave them all a chance to look it over. They saw what was obviously a church at the top of a small hill. There were red roofs and white buildings in a number of locations. Most of those had two floors. Other buildings were obviously old wood. It was really quaint-looking.

Rick got off the paved road, onto a dirt road, and drove out of town. They were going toward a forest that looked really familiar which made Kate smile. They were headed for an area that she really liked. Then Rick stopped.

"You're not serious?" Kate leaned forward to try and look out and down. Then he turned off the car, truck, van, whatever it was, and got out. The others followed.

"I think he is, Katie," Jim muttered as he looked the entire area over.

"He's nuts is what he is." Jo was just about convinced of it now.

They stared at the bridge that looked like they had to cross. It was a single lane and it was really long. It had wood sides and a wooden floor that was built on top of a lovely arch made of bricks, stone, they didn't know what.

"We cross this and stop at a garage where we change vehicles and go up into the forest. Up there," Rick indicated. Then he challenged them since even he couldn't see it from where they were and he knew where it was. "Do you see it?" He did his best to hide his smile.

"See what?" Jo was looking and looking but all she saw was trees. But it didn't matter since they were all going to die just getting to the other side.

"Shall we go?" Rick was ready to get there so he could show them what he'd built. He was really proud of it.

"Can we walk it?" Jo wasn't driving across that thing.

"Sure, if you want." Rick got in his camper, started it, and smiled as Kate got in next to him. At least someone trusted him.

He drove across as easy as you please, then turned and stopped in front of a wooden garage that was built for just one vehicle. Then he backed up and stopped farther away.

Kate saw a really rough and nasty dirt road that went up the hill and disappeared. "We're going up _that?"_ She wasn't sure what, if anything, could go up that hill.

"You should've seen what it took to get the supplies to build it up there. More than I care to think about had to go in using a helicopter and then be lowered from above the trees at hundreds of dollars an hour." Rick had come out to see their progress only a couple of times. The last one was when it was finished completely including furniture that was all shipped in.

Rick got out followed by Kate and waited for Jim and Jo to join them.

"Okay, so it was safe." Jo looked behind her. "It's still a long ways down there."

"Now what," Jim asked, pointing at the nasty-looking road, "we walk up that?"

"Nope, we drive." Rick walked over to the little garage and opened it to show them what was inside. Then he pulled out a key, disconnected the battery charger that was powered by electricity from the house, got in it and fired it up. Then he pulled out and stopped.

"Hop in." Rick was grinning widely.

The three of them just stood there staring at this thing, whatever it was. It was mostly red and silver with a black top. It had four doors and four seats but it had no windows of any kind. It also had some big knobby-looking tires.

**Can-Am® Maverick™ X3 MAX X™ rs TURBO R Gold, Can-Am Red & Hyper Silver**

"We have to use this time every time we want to go into town?" Jo looked it over. Jim, however, was kind of interested. It looked like fun to him.

"Yep, at least down to the camper. All the way into town if it has snowed or rained a lot. Ready to go? Just one more road to go." They were about ten to fifteen minutes away.

"Better buckle up. I haven't been here in a while so I don't know what the road looks like now," Rick warned and waited for them to fasten their seat belts. As soon as they did, he gunned it, turned it hard, and shot up the road only to slow down at the first large rut created by water runoff. He gunned it again. It was a bit bumpy and a little steep. He came around a corner and went up, angling back the way they'd come. Then he turned and hit the brakes; he set the brake and turned it off.

"We're here," Rick beamed; he loved this place. He opened his door and got out. Followed by the others.

"OH-MY-GOD!" Jo knew her mouth was hanging open. It was just that she was expecting another tiny cabin. What else could it be? This was not a tiny cabin in any sense of the word. It was all wood, but boards though, instead of logs. There was also lots and lots of glass. She was pretty sure she saw two round metal chimneys. It was two stories tall or maybe three since she thought she saw a small third floor on one end. Absolutely stunned, Jo turned to Rick. "You built this?" It was amazing and gorgeous.

"Well, this one I had built but yeah, I built it. Two thousand seven hundred forty-five square feet, four bedrooms, and three bathrooms. Kitchen, dining, living, and a TV room that uses satellite so when it rains, no TV. A small study at the highest point where I plan on doing my writing. There's a sauna and a large outdoor deck, complete with a hot tub.

"Electricity for the house and garage is generated via solar panels mounted on three tall towers farther up the hill. There's a large diesel powered backup generator just in case. Our water supply is from rain that goes into a large cistern and is pumped up the hill. It's more than enough for one but we might have to be careful with four of us depending on how often it rains, but we can make it work.

"Go up the stairs to the front door." Rick motioned for them to go first. "There's a button that turns on the lights for the stairs at night." He pressed it just to show them and on came the lights. It was a little steep and a lot of steps but they finally reached the front door.

"The keys are inside but you can get in by putting in a ten digit code." Rick began pressing buttons and the lock released; he swung the door open.

"Be my guest. This is home now. After the tour we need to go into town. There's almost no food here so we're going to need a lot for four people if we want to eat tonight," Rick said and followed them inside.

He hadn't planned on being there this early, nor had he anticipated he would be here with anyone, though he was happy to have them. He was just really happy to be away from his father and his mother to a lesser extent. He wasn't going to miss either of them.

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Jackson answered his cell phone. "Yes," he snarled.

"We haven't found him and have no leads, sir. He may have come here but he very likely didn't stay here. If he doesn't know any other languages he probably didn't go farther into Russia. I would suggest Scandinavia or the Balkans," the investigator reported.

He was ready to blow up and scream at him. But who he had hired was good. He couldn't just dismiss his suggestions. "Just find him. I'll put more money in your account for expenses." He hung up and wound up to throw his cell phone, but didn't. He needed to think and not react. He was beginning to wonder if his son was smarter than he was giving him credit for. Was he clever enough to have a fake name? Did he even know how to get one? If he did what name would he use? How had he gotten the money? He had a lot of searching to do now and that really pissed him off.

There was one good thing, he couldn't get off the planet since no one else could, either. Not even him.

Jackson huffed out an aggravated breath. His own son was really starting to make him angry and he was going to make him pay for this. Really pay.

realtor(dot com)(slash)news(slash)unique-homes(slash)house-living-redwoods-forest-mill-valley-ca-photos


	11. Chapter 11

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 11_

Just inside the door was a set of stairs up to the right. In front of them was another door. However, what had Jo's attention was what she could see through that door. "A wine rack!" There was only one small problem – it was empty.

"That door leads to the kitchen first," Rick explained which had Jo opening the door since she hadn't seen a real kitchen in years. She had to turn right first thing. That led to a kitchen that was in the shape of a dogleg.

First up was the dishwasher, followed by the sink, then the range with cooktop. Behind that was a counter and cabinets and a massive refrigerator. She opened the door and found it was cold but empty. She also saw that she couldn't put a piece of paper between the door and the countertop on the other side.

Next to the refrigerator was a walk-in pantry. "This is tight." Jo noticed that easily. It wasn't meant for more than one cook, that was for sure.

The wood cabinets were stained a golden color, while the floor was a beige tile. The countertops were granite that was dark gray and white. The ceiling had exposed joists holding up the second floor that was obviously wood floors.

Past the pantry was the dining room. It was equally tight. It had a narrow table that was lucky to seat four. It was there that the floors turned to natural wood that had a shine to them. One wall was all glass while the inside wall held shelving that had food serving items. Platters, glasses, and other items.

Next up was a hallway that had two wood doors that lead to two small bedrooms. Each had a wall of windows looking out onto the forest. The other walls were wood that had been installed at a forty-five degree slant instead of vertically. They both also had natural wood floors. Both beds were large and took up most of the room. The ceilings were identical to the one in the kitchen and dining room. Between each bedroom was the first bathroom.

The next room that turned ended in another set of stairs was also a little narrow. It had a wall of windows. Floor to ceiling windows. Against the windows was a charcoal gray sofa with a matching chair. On the inside wall was a TV on a wood table that had folded up comforters stacked on a shelf just above the floor. The wall behind the TV was the same wood wall in the bedrooms.

"This is a lot of wood," Jo observed.

"It's all local. The trees were cut from this forest and then milled and trimmed to create everything you see or will see," Rick said.

Up the stairs took them to two bedrooms, one of which was obviously the master bedroom that had its own bathroom. It had very tall ceilings with one wall of windows from floor to ceiling. The bed was large and up against the inside wall that was the same wood wall installed at an angle. Its bathroom had a truly unique shower made out of tiny little tiles that made it look like a horizontal river was running along the wall. The floor tile looked like wood slats. Off of this room was the sauna he'd mentioned.

The next bedroom was almost its equal save that it was much smaller. Next to it was a small bathroom, the third and final bathroom.

Then it opened up into a massive living room. "OH-MY-WORD!" Jo felt her mouth fall open.

It was three walls of floor to ceiling windows and since the ceiling was easily 15 feet tall, that was a lot of windows. There was light camel large sofa, the same color loveseat, and a soft deep coral-colored chair with an ottoman all on wood floors. There was an unusual angular-arched freestanding fireplace in the corner next to her.

On the opposite side she saw a set of stairs that looked really steep leading up to a small area that was surrounded by a wooden railing. The ceiling had exposed wood beams with a wood ceiling.

"This is amazing!" So far all of it was breathtaking. Then it only got better when she saw a door that went out onto a large deck.

Under the third floor was a small area that held a table and a chair that had a computer sitting on it. Jo opened the door next to it to go back outside. Out there they found a wood deck, a grill for cooking and, "What's that?" Kate had been walking around with her mouth hanging open. She had never, ever been inside anything like this place.

"It's the hot tub." Rick walked over to it, lifted up the hinged cover, and pressed the _clean _button that turned it on to show her what it did as jets started shooting and bubbles formed. There was a panel that said _97 degrees._

"Where does this thing go?" Jo saw a second round metal tube that came up the side of the railing but didn't remember seeing anything downstairs. "There's a deck with an outdoor fireplace down there! How did I miss that?" It looked to be off the kitchen or dining room some how.

They all walked over to the outdoor table that had seating for four and sat down.

"How did you do all this?" Granted he was a Rodgers but if he was trying to escape his father didn't that mean he didn't have any money of his own?

"I have lots of money and it's all mine; my father knows nothing about it. To explain it better we need to go back inside and up to my study. You'll see." Rick got up and led them back inside. Then up the steep stairs to the space that looked out onto the living room.

Up there they found that half of the roof was skylights. There was a small glass desk that had a computer on it. A high back wooden chair, wood floors, the same wood walls installed at an angle. There was also a tall bookcase full of books. He obviously liked to read. That was when Jo saw something and pulled down one of the books to look at it.

"That's one of mine," Rick said proudly.

That had all of them looking. There had to be three or four books that said Richard Castle on the spine. The three of them stared at him.

"My father has his plan for me and I had mine. I found early on while I was hiding from him and his whip that I liked to write. He also took me with him almost everywhere he went. When he went to a meeting I went out, looked around, and talked to people.

"That's how I met the guy that got you your IDs, by the way. It also allowed me to meet a publisher who was willing to look at what I did. I'm pretty sure it was because they knew I was a Rodgers. It turned out they liked what I was writing and wanted to publish me.

"I couldn't allow them to publish me as a Rodgers. Neither of us really knew what the result of that would be. So we created a new name for me. Gina Cowell, my publisher and editor, is or was until now the only person who knows that my name is both Rodgers and Castle. She and Black Pawn have agreed to publish me under the name of Castle and never disclose my real name," Rick explained.

Jim and Jo followed all that. "Doesn't that make her and Black Pawn a threat to your freedom?" Jo questioned.

"It does except all of my books have made it to the top ten on The New York Times Best Sellers list. My books have made both of us millions of dollars. I'm their most successful author and I'm worth millions to them. If they rat me out their company will fold." Rick thought it would hold up so long as his books kept selling.

"Except your father can just destroy their company. He can destroy all of their families' lives. Them, their parents, their brothers and sisters. Even their children."

"That's true, it _is_ a risk. However, my father has to have a reason to question them. Only Gina really knows, not even the rest of Black Pawn knows what my real name is. So I should be fine. I write and save my work on a portable drive that I have with me. Then I go online to upload chapter to her and she sends back corrections. I have a satellite dish for TV and another for the Internet. Access to the Internet here requires a password and all of my data is encrypted using a program I purchased." He was reasonably certain he had everything covered.

"Remember most of the locals don't speak English and my father isn't really their concern. He has no authority here. Of course he could threaten to declare war against Switzerland if they refuse to hand me over. Though my father has teams that would simply enter the country, kill all of you, and take me captive and back to him.

"We just have to be careful, but we should be able to stay here until we die of old age. Or at least I'm hoping so." It was all he had to get away from his father.

"We won't tell anyone," Jo promised and looked at Jim who shook his head.

"I'm not talking," Kate quickly added, knowing full well that if she did she would lose him.

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"We need to go into town. You saw the empty refrigerator and pantry," Rick said.

"What don't you have?" Jo inquired.

"Almost everything. I have pots, pans, plates, glasses, silverware, and kitchen equipment. I don't have any food, nothing to clean with at all, no soap for anything, no personal items of any kind. …It's a lot," Rick explained.

Jo looked at Jim and Kate. "The only way up and down is in that thing before changing to a car." She watched as Rick nodded. "That means we're going to need both back seats and most of the car to carry it all." Jo made her choice. "You two stay here. If either of you can think of anything Jim can tell me." They were bonded, after all.

Rick and Jo went outside. He was about ready to get in the car but it was plain that Jo still wasn't sure about it. She glanced over at him briefly. "You're sure this thing is safe?" She stood there looking at it and wished it could be simpler.

She suffered going down the hill to the garage then got into the camper, closing her eyes and praying as they went across the bridge.

Their first stop was a bank. "I only have US dollars on me. I have an account here in my name of Castle, but we're going to need local currency so I'll be right back." Rick knew parts of this little town so he could get around a little.

The grocery store was a lot smaller than Jo remembered them being. "Take a cart and go that way, get anything you want. I'll take one this way. I'll meet you back up front and pay for it all. When we get back I can give all of you some money to use for yourselves." Rick was willing to let them go into town and spend money.

Jo grabbed a little cart and started pushing. She couldn't read a word on any of the packaging. Still some of it was easy to understand.

Bath soap, body wash, laundry detergent, dishwasher soap, fabric softener, floor cleaner, toilet cleaner and brushes, hand soap, antiperspirant. Then she hit a small area. She had no idea what they said either but what they were was obvious. She snatched a box off the shelf and felt tears starting. "Tampons! Pads!" She dropped two boxes of both in her cart then added a third. No more making do with what they could manage. Neither she nor Katie would ever have to do that again.

There were more and she was tempted to just empty the shelf and fill her cart, but she could come back later. Next she ran across a small section that held makeup. "Oh-my-god!" Like tampons, she'd done without makeup for longer than she cared to think. She put two of everything they had in her cart which was threatening to overflow.

Not far away she ran across a really small area that held boxes that said she didn't know what. Though what was on the back made it clear as to what they were. She didn't need them, but she knew her daughter was going to be sexually active soon. So she grabbed a couple of boxes of condoms and dropped them in her cart as well.

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The lone lady that checked them out looked at both of them funny, but she added it all up. She didn't speak any English and they didn't understand a word she said. When Rick saw the total he handed over enough local currency to cover it and simply waved his hands when she tried to give him back his change.

She pocketed the change and smiled at both of them.

Jo saw steaks, hamburger, ham, bacon, sausage, cereal, and can after can after can of she didn't know what. There were boxes and bags that she took to be flour, sugar, brown sugar, along with little bottles that were obviously spices amongst other things that she didn't recognize.

She had gotten everything that wasn't food while Rick had gotten nothing but food. Including butter, eggs, and various liquids that they would have to figure out later.

It took four trips for each of them to get it all out to the car with it all in paper bags.

They filled the back of the other car and Jo watched as Rick put the VW into the garage and closed it. Then up the road they went and Jo was sure her teeth were going to rattle out of her mouth.

Jim and Katie were waiting for them and helped them carry it all up the stairs just to reach the front door and then into the kitchen. Since the kitchen wasn't large enough to hold it all a lot of it went onto the dining room table.

It took them the better part of a couple of hours to unpack and distribute it all to where it needed to go. That was when Jo found the full-size washer and dryer that were stacked in a tiny closet. She also finally saw the door that went out onto the lower patio that had the outdoor fireplace. It also had a table and four chairs.

She had to admit that this place was gorgeous. She even liked all of the wood.

Jim and Jo chose the largest bedroom on the lower level and left Katie to choose her bedroom between the other two since Rick was getting the master, of course.

Next came letting Rick cook since he knew what he was doing and where everything was.

"You really know how to cook," Jim told him while he ate. Jim quickly covered his ass before Jo hurt him. "Not as good as my wife, but really good." Jim didn't miss his wife glaring at him. He smiled back at her while trying to chew.

"You can thank my mother for that. My father was grooming me for what he wanted while my mother made sure I wouldn't starve to death," Rick explained.

Jo and Jim chose to clean up the mess he and they had made while Rick took their clothes and did laundry. With the first load in the washer and Jim and Jo busy in the kitchen he slipped out onto the upper deck and sat down.

It was quiet and peaceful out there. A lot like his little cabin in a different forest half a world away. Then Kate joined him, not that that was a bad thing.

"Hi." Kate spoke softly since she had a request and wasn't sure what he was going to say.

"Hi, so what do you think of the place? You've been rather quiet." It was mostly Johanna that had said anything. Jim and Kate had barely said a word.

"It's beautiful, truly! I like it a lot. I've never even had a chance to live in a place like this. It feels more like a dream." An amazing dream to be sure. It was just that she had spent all her life on the run and living with very little. Now she was living here and it was just so surreal.

She needed to ask him before she lost her nerve. "Rick…"

"Hmm?" He took his attention off all the trees and focused solely on her.

"Can I… Will you let me… I want to sleep with you in your room. Can we do that?" There, she had asked him. However, that didn't take her fears of what he would say away.

Rick raised an eyebrow. "What do your parents think of your idea?"

"I haven't asked them." She didn't want to ask them, either. She feared what they would say even more than what Rick would say.

"You can't ignore them, Kate, they live here too. Though I have no complaints and would love to have you stay in my room. But they have to approve of your plan." He wasn't getting in-between Kate and her parents. He wasn't going to be the cause of an argument.

"I will, I promise." Like in a couple of weeks, long after they had already been sleeping in the same room together. "So was that a yes?" He hadn't actually said it.

"Yes." Privately he'd been hoping for this very thing but wasn't sure if Kate wanted it as well.

Kate squealed and got up so she could kiss him soundly. "Thank you." She was even starting to question if they could have sex tonight. She had already waited long enough.

They were all in the living room; it was dark outside and the lights were on. "Would you tell me again how you get power?" Jim asked since he and his family had lived without power for a long time.

"Farther up the mountain and above the treeline there are three towers that each hold eight panels. They're angled to catch as much sunlight as they can. The power from those is routed to a huge bank of batteries in a building that's up there too. A power line encased in conduit and buried several feet beneath the surface is routed down the hill to the house and into a bank of breakers to distribute the power. Then another power line with the same safeguards goes down to the garage to give it power.

"It's for one day in the future if electric cars ever come along so I can plug one in and charge its batteries and maybe even have its batteries to help power this place. But that's well into the future. I'm still working on a plan on how to get lights on the bridge. It kind of disappears at night thanks to all the trees." That problem had escaped him at the time.

"Yes, please," Jo added quickly since just going across it during the day was bad enough.

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Jim and Jo left Rick and Kate in the living room as they headed off to bed. It had already been a long day and tomorrow was likely to be another long day. They wanted to search the area of the forest they were in and get a feeling for the place.

They wanted to create an escape plan in case they were ever found out.

Kate got up and joined Rick on the sofa. She snuggled in close and moved even closer when he put his arm around her. It allowed her to relax and let him hold her.

They didn't talk and Kate just let him hold her but the longer he held her the more she wanted to ask him something. It wasn't until she couldn't hold it in any longer that she had the nerve to ask him. "Rick…, can we have sex?" She wanted to lose her virginity to him. She was sure she was falling in love with him. He was perfect and they had already done a little or maybe a lot.

"Mom bought something in town called condoms to prevent pregnancy." Her mother had taken her aside and given her the box; if or when she had Rick ever got together she was supposed to make sure he used one.

Hearing that had Rick opening his eyes wide. That her mother was planning ahead told him a lot. Instead of saying anything he got up and took her hand. He turned off the lights and escorted her into his bedroom.


	12. Chapter 12

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 12_

Kate had been awake for a little while though she had absolutely no plans to move from where she was. She was naked and curled up next to Rick who was sleeping soundly.

Yes, it had hurt and she'd bitten her tongue to keep from crying out. However, it was something she really wanted. She'd given her virginity to Rick and couldn't think of anyone else she could've possibly wanted to give it to.

The pain had gone away as Rick kept thrusting his cock in and out of her. He kept asking if she was okay and she kept telling him she was fine. And she really was fine, maybe more than fine, really.

They had tried to be prepared by having sex while on a towel. Except the blood had soaked through the towel and stained the sheets. They'd actually stopped and changed the sheets and Rick had given her a warm, damp cloth to clean herself with. Once she was done he began kissing his way down her body, stopping to kiss her breasts, and even nibbling on her nipples. Then suddenly his head was between her spread legs and he was licking her down there again.

She still couldn't believe that he was willing to do that. She also realized that her orgasms came really quickly when he did that. She had responded by licking and doing her best to take his cock in her mouth until he spurted in her mouth three times.

She really hoped that it would get better each time they did it. She was actually looking forward to the next time.

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She was still awake and was rubbing a finger across his skin as she discovered that she liked being naked next to him. Only when he stirred a little did she say anything. "You awake?" She continued to stare at his chest and what her finger was doing.

Rick grinned as he teased her. "No, unless you mean the other guy who's in this bed." That earned him a swat to his chest. Kate wasn't amused. "Well, I am now," he grumbled, the sparkle in his eyes belying his grouchiness.

Kate went back to running a finger over his chest. "Can we do that again? …Have sex, I mean." She wasn't willing to wait until tonight to find out if it got better.

A smile appeared on Rick's face. He was pleased that she was so eager to have sex with him. "You're going to have to help me. I don't have a full erection." He was willing to have sex with her again, it was just that he wasn't yet excited to get an erection yet.

"Oh!" He had always just had erections before, she didn't really see what was so different about now. But she could fix that. She ran her hand down his body and began to play with his cock.

As she did it got bigger and bigger. Rick was willing to try something different this time. "You can stop and get up on top of me." He watched as she got up and started to sit down on him. "Not yet, sweetness." He reached down to take hold of his cock and place it at her opening. "Now lower yourself down on me as it slips inside you." But first he let go of himself to check that she was wet and found that she was.

"WAIT!" They'd forgotten something important. Kate groaned. She wanted him inside her and he was stopping her. She watched as he reached for something. He used his teeth to open it and rolled the condom onto his cock. "Oh, yeah." She hadn't thought about that. If they weren't careful she might end up pregnant far too soon.

Kate reached down to take hold of him, placed him where she wanted him, and lowered herself down onto him. She felt him slip inside her with very little difficulty. This time she relished in the feeling of having him inside her.

He had done all the work last time now it was up to her to lift herself up and then back down. This go round she found that she really like the feeling of having him deep inside her while she just sort of moved around.

She could feel her orgasm building up when suddenly his hands were on her breasts. She held his hands with hers as he massaged her breasts and then pinched her nipples hard, very hard. He took his hand from her breast and she mourned the loss. Then suddenly his finger was flipping a little nub that was really sensitive at her core and she moaned loudly as she climaxed and her muscles squeezed his cock.

As she came down with him still inside her she lay down on top of him, boneless and breathless. The second time really was better than the first.

She was still resting on him and felt him still inside her when a concern came to her, so she looked up at him. "Did you climax?" He shook his head; at that she sat back up and began raising herself up and then back down and tried to increase her speed.

When he started moaning louder she was thinking he was getting closer. Then she reached for his hands and placed them on her breasts again. She really liked it when he touched her.

When his hand left one of her breasts yet again she didn't like it but that same hand started hitting that little nub at her core. Then he moaned loudly and lifted his ass of the bed and thrust himself deep inside her. Then his finger really sped up and Kate felt another climax hit her.

Kate found herself laying on him yet again as she calmed down. The third time was even better than the second. They were going to be doing this a lot in the future, she was sure of it.

His shower, she found, was big enough for both of them. She had started out washing him until she saw he had another erection. She'd just begun to bend down to take him in her mouth when he put his hands under her ass and lifted her up. He pushed her up against the wall, plunged his cock inside her, and started moving his hips to push in and pull out.

She wrapped her legs around him and moaned in his ear. "Harder…, faster." She was about to climax yet again. The second she did she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming into his ear. The fourth time was even better then the third time.

Kate stopped him at the bathroom door after they were both clean and dry. She pressed her naked body into his. "Can we do all that again tonight and again in the morning?" She wanted more.

Rick chuckled softly. Apparently Kate was insatiable when it came to sex. The corner of his mouth tipped up then he smirked. "We'll have to see if you're up to it." That had her kissing him. Oh, she was going to be up for it, of that she had no doubt.

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"Any plans for the day?" Rick asked Jim and Jo who entered the kitchen looking for breakfast.

"We were thinking of going out into the forest to look around. Maybe go up and see your solar panels." Jim had expressed a curiosity as to just what they looked like.

"I own the mountain we're on so go where you like. If you come down to the level of the garage that's about where my ownership of the land ends. We have no reason to hunt for game unless you want to. I can go into town and look for a bow and arrow set if you want. I'm not sure if they have traps."

Rick shrugged a shoulder. "It would be no trouble since I have to go into town anyway. My bed only has one set of sheets. I can get more for your bed as well, if you want. The other beds are the same size so if you need another set for any reason you can steal from there."

"That would be nice. Just nothing wild, please." Jo would be happy with beige or even white.

"Can I come?" Kate entreated. "I've never seen the town. Mom went last time." It was a nice small town and she felt she could handle a place this size. It wasn't huge like the other cities they'd had to go through to get here.

"You can pick out the sheets for your mom. That way if she doesn't like them she can blame you." Rick was off the hook and laughed at the look Kate was giving him for that comment.

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Kate had been shaken around badly as Rick raced down the hill to the garage. They changed vehicles once there. She was up front with him and looked over the side down off the bridge to see just how far above the bottom they were. It looked like a long ways to her.

Rick tried to allay her fears. "It's really a strong bridge, Kate. You should have seen some of the trucks I saw go across it the one time I was here during construction of the house.

They shopped for sheets first. Jim and Jo need full size while he needed queen size. The town was small so the choices were slim for both beds. Rick selected the best of three choices while Kate selected the best of two choices.

Next came bows and arrows.

Kate saw one that reminded her of the one Rick had when she first saw him. "What are the wheels for?"

"They add power to your shot. You can shoot farther and the arrow will go deeper into the target. It's what they are made of that makes them so expensive," Rick explained.

They only had two but they did have one other that was totally different. "What's this one?" She didn't even see where you held it. The bow part, if that was what it was, had two pieces on either side. There was something on one end and this little black thing on top.

"That's a crossbow. You put this part on the ground like this, put your foot in it to hold it down, and pull back the string to here. Then you put one of these little things, called a bolt, in the slot. Put the end into your shoulder and look into this thing to line up your shot and pull the trigger. Some people like them." Rick wasn't one of them.

Kate looked at it and thought it was stupid. What if she needed to shoot again because her first shot was bad? The animal could make it a mile away before she was ready to fire again. She shook her head and watched Rick put it back.

"This is the smaller of the two, see if you like it." If she didn't she was going to have to do without at least until this place got a new one which would likely take a year or two.

Kate was expecting a little more weight and when she pulled the string she pulled really hard like she was used to. She surprised that she didn't have to pull anywhere near as hard. It actually felt a little more balanced in her hand than her old one made of wood.

She had the bow, a quiver with two dozen arrows in it that were all made of aluminum with half with game points for hunting, half with field tips for target shooting, and weird feathers on the other end of each one, all carefully tucked in the car behind her. She was thrilled to bits with her new bow. She may not need it now but she might some day. Besides she was going to need practice before she got good at using it.

"Do your parents hunt with bows?" Rick asked her.

"Dad does sometimes. Mom usually uses traps." It was how they'd gotten by all those years.

"Maybe next time I can bring Jim and see if he likes either of the two that remain," Rick mused.

Jim and Jo were gone when they got back so Kate put her new bow in their bedroom while Rick distributed the new sheets and then put their bloody sheets in the washer.

"Did I ruin them?" Kate bit her lower lip. It was her blood that was on them. She was relieved that the blood stain on the mattress was tiny.

"Blood's hard to get out. But they're not ruined, just stained a little. We'll never even notice." Rick reached out, drew her close, and kissed her. She was sweet to worry.

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Rick and Kate were sitting next to each other on the sofa in the living room when Jim and Jo showed up. "What did you find?" Rick inquired. He was pretty sure he already knew though he hadn't been up there for a while. Once during construction and just once after it was done.

"Saw all those solar panels." Jim couldn't remember ever seeing anything like them before. They'd seen three really tall metal tubes aligned up the hill in a row. At the top were black panels that had these lines in them. The panels looked to be attached to more metal rods that in turn were attached to the metal poles.

Then there was a building made of stone with a single metal door that they couldn't get open so they didn't know what was inside it. Rick had said batteries but they didn't get to see them. They saw wires running down the poles and into the ground. After that they didn't see any other wires.

Rick nodded. "Yep, they use the sun to create power that's stored in the batteries in that little building. When the sun's out like it is now, we get our power directly from the panels. Anything we don't use keeps the batteries charged. At night we get our power from the batteries only. If anything goes wrong the batteries can supply us with power at full normal usage for three full days. Longer if we're careful.

"Which is a good thing since if anything does go wrong they'll have to come all the way from Zurich to fix it and that might take weeks. Which is where everyone came from to build this place. The house, the solar panels, the garage, and even the bridge. I think the town was happy to have them. Gave them a real boost to their economy." His teams slept there, ate there, spent money there.

Jo smiled at Rick. "And the forest is lovely. Maybe a little steep but really nice. We saw lots of animals if we need to go hunting for meat. Didn't see much else to eat, though." That was a drawback to living off the land here.

Rick's face lit up. "That's part of the second phase. If I can I want to cut in a road around the mountain to the far side which isn't going to be easy. It'll probably end up being a series of bridges. On the far side there's a good-sized flat space along with a nice area to put in some tiered planting areas. There could be nut trees, fruit trees, lots of plants that are native to the area. The problem is just getting to it will be expensive so it'll have to wait." He had the money or most of it. However, it would wipe him out and he didn't dare let that happen. If he got wind that his father had found him he would need that money to run with.

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Jackson had been alerted by the guards that his guest had finally arrived. He had summoned him so that he could get information in person instead of over the phone. He just needed to remember to keep his emotions in check. He needed this guy and his team.

Exuding quiet professionalism, Will greeted him and shook his hand. "Jackson."

"Will, good of you to come. I really needed to hear it from you instead of using the phone all the time." While speaking Jackson escorted him into his summer house that he and his wife would be leaving soon.

"Not a problem. I appreciate the use of your jet to get here." It also showed him that his friend Jackson was indeed filthy rich. His personal jet had been amazing and completely decadent.

Jackson raised a decanter that held hundred-year-old cognac. "Drink?"

"Please." He really didn't need it. The jet had been stocked with a lot of the really good stuff, but he needed to keep Jackson on his good side, an iffy thing at best considering what he had to tell him.

They were soon sitting and sipping. "So, what have you got for me?" As soon as Will went back to Boston his jet would return and take him and his wife home until next summer.

"I've got a team of locals searching deeper into Russia just in case. Underestimating what your son's capable of would be a mistake. Unfortunately they have nothing thus far. I didn't expect that they would but it was worth a shot." So far Jackson was taking it well.

"You told me that he only knows English so that tends to limit where he could go – to a point. Having said that, there are trains and airlines that go almost everywhere from Moscow. Thankfully their airport is filled with security cameras but getting to view all those recordings has already cost a small fortune." He'd gained access to them since even those people could be bought.

"The charge on his credit card showed that he flew out of Portland which doesn't have international direct flights except to Japan or China. I've got someone searching the recordings of their security cameras using a basic face recognition program. Based on the time stamp he hasn't found anything yet. However, what that same ticket can't tell us is if his flight was delayed or canceled, causing him to take a different one. We only know what your son charged which means he has to search several days' worth just to be sure," Will informed him a bit warily.

Jackson was beginning to squeeze his glass but said nothing. Will noticed his knuckles had begun to whiten, ramping up his uneasiness.

"His most likely stop would be New York on his way to Moscow so I have one of my operatives doing the same there. Several days worth. Again, just to be sure. What I really need to know is just how smart is your son? We need to discuss whether he would know to use a fake name. How he would get a fake name and what that name might be. As well as who might help him. And how badly did he want to get away?" Will left off, _"from you," _butJackson heard it none the less.

"My son is smart, very smart. I spent years making sure of it. I also spent years making sure he obeyed me." That was the part that made him really angry. His son should be obeying him, not running away from him. "I have someone I trust going though my accounts to find out where he got the money from. I have no missing hard cash." He was also pretty sure his son didn't know the combination to his safe nor the passwords to his accounts. Neither did his own wife.

"It was a first class ticket so if he didn't buy it with twenty-one days advance notice it would've cost him in excess of twelve thousand dollars one-way. Since he's smart enough to use a fake name we need to figure out what that name might be and do a search using that name," Will offered.

That only had Jackson adding a little more pressure to his glass. "Where do we start?"

"Well, it depends. The most logical assumption would be that your son kept his first name. It's not easy to always respond to a completely new name. Unless he was already using it for a long enough time to get used to it. So how far in advance did he plan this? It could have been days, weeks, months, or even longer. The longer the time the more likely it is that he could use literally any name." Making it nearly impossible unless they got lucky.

"You said he was in that tiny cabin of his out in the woods before he disappeared. This place is rather isolated so getting help isn't likely. You said you used your helicopter to try and find him. What did you find and how did you look?" Will queried.

"The woods are thick so we were forced to use infrared to locate any hot spots. We found several but they all turned out to be wildlife. From single targets to small herds. Unless he has speed I know nothing about or a motorcycle that didn't show up, he couldn't run that fast to be any of the single targets. So I assumed that he wasn't in the target area at the time. Except he showed up to steal my wife's very last car she will ever be able to use again." Jackson set his glass down before he crushed it.

Will's eyes narrowed briefly. "A four door Aston Martin that could have been filled with suitcases." Meaning he was traveling heavy.

Jackson shot that down. "All of his clothes are still in his room."

The younger man absently rubbed his chin while thinking aloud. "So he's traveling light. Maybe a single backpack. Easier to use any transportation of his choice, either planned or last second. …I've got teams in Finland, Sweden, and Norway doing searches to narrow down the most likely place to go to from Moscow since those countries speak English fluently.

"On the off chance that Moscow's a planned dead end I've got an operative in Heathrow using the same facial recognition software. Our major problem is time. Most of these places only keep recordings for a few weeks at best. Heathrow Airport is a major destination from the U.S. except for places like Paris or ones in Germany."

Jackson couldn't believe that his own son was doing this to him. _**HIM!**_

Then Will's satellite phone rang. "Yes?" He listened for a moment. "When!?" He sat up straighter and leaned forward in excitement. "Where did he go?" He listened a bit longer. "Do a search of that airline. Where all of their flights went that day and all of the next," he ordered. "Yes, all of them. Then do what you can to get a list of everyone who bought tickets that day for that airline in that airport." Will hung up and looked at Jackson who only had eyes for him.

"We got a facial recognition hit for your son in Heathrow. He was spotted at the Delta counter. We're doing a search of all flights that left that day and the following day. It would appear that your son's smarter than we thought. He meant for us to waste our time in Moscow and it worked. He's good. Now we are seriously behind him. Since his Rodgers account doesn't show any other expenses he may have bought his next ticket either with cash or with his new name. The longer this takes the harder it will be to find him." Will at least had a solid lead. Just where did he go next?

Will got back on his phone to call off his teams in Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Russia. His man in New York could also stop his search now. He needed what his operative in Heathrow found so he could distribute his team to new locations. They had to move fast before they lost him.

Then he called his operative at Heathrow back. "Start another search for him for all flights the next day. Maybe if we see where he went we can narrow what city he went to next. …Unless he stayed there." Now he needed a team to search all of London, not an easy task with a population of seven point three million. More like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"I may need more men meaning a larger expense," Will warned Jackson and was told whatever it cost. Jackson would add still more money to his account before Will left today.


	13. Chapter 13

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 13_

_It has been three months since they arrived __in Lumnezia_

Her mother was in the kitchen and her dad was actually trying to fool around on the internet using one of the computers while Rick was up on the third floor in his den doing some typing. He'd mentioned needing to send Gina something so that his next book made it out by Christmas. Not that she really understood Christmas. The entire concept was completely foreign to her.

Climbing up the stairs she found him sitting at his desk; he was typing and then he paused. "Hey babe, is this a good time?" She had something that she really wanted to talk about now that they were a couple and her parents knew it and hadn't tried to stop her or break them up.

He raised his finger. "Just one minute." He needed to save it all, attach it to an email, send it to Gina, and get an acknowledgment that she'd received it.

"Done." He stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders, trying to release the tension in his muscles. "Gina will take what I sent her, edit with changes she wants, and send it back. I can then make the changes, ignore the changes or add some of my own, and send it back. So I have a few weeks before I have to do anything.

"What's on your mind?" Rick turned his chair to face her; she straddled him, sat on his lap, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Delighted, he wrapped his arms around her in return.

He had learned that Kate had a very high libido now that they'd started having sex. They had sex daily at the very least. Sometimes twice a day. They were going through condoms at a really fast pace.

"Is there something you want?" Sex in his office was entirely possible, except he didn't know where her parents were, his walls were only railings and any noise they or Kate, since she was the one that made most of the noise, could easily be heard, he was betting.

Kate needed to ask before she lost her nerve. She loved him and had started telling him so the last couple of weeks. Her heart had soared when he'd said that he loved her, too. "Do you want to bond with me?" She meant have sex when they were their animals. She saw a slightly shocked look on his face. Though he didn't reject her outright.

"You're obviously serious." He had learned that about her. "There's one question I have for you. What animal are you?" While they had gotten really close they hadn't talked much about being shifters. Rick chalked it up to hiding all their lives and it just came naturally to not talk about it.

"I mean since I'm a Bengal tiger and you're say a coyote or a wolf, I'm not sure we would be a good match. You a dog and me a cat." It was the first major stumbling block.

That had Kate smiling and she kissed him for it. He had just said yes as far as she was concerned. "Then it's a good thing I'm not a dog. I'm a tiger, too, babe. Just not a Bengal tiger." She smiled wide and brushed her lips across his. "So was that a yes?" She really wanted to be bonded with him. It meant some other female shifter couldn't steal him from her. She was his and he was hers for life.

Rick remained silent a heartbeat longer then he kissed her. She kissed him back with a burning passion. Almost enough to drag him down to their bedroom so they could have sex.

"So yes?" Kate asked him again after breaking from the kiss.

"I couldn't imagine being bonded with anyone else," Rick told her as she squealed and kissed him again.

Kate suggested a time. "Tonight after mom and dad go to bed?" Then an idea hit her. "Indoors or outdoors? Say up by your solar panels?" It was far enough away that her parents wouldn't hear anything.

"Feeling brave, are we?" Rick smiled and thought about it. If they did it at night and shifted before they even left the house, they should be safe. No one would hunt on a hill that steep in the middle of the night. As far as he knew his father had no idea where he was. He had done his best to send him where he wasn't and had even given him a place to search to waste his time.

Kate just kept looking at him as if he could read her mind. Even after they were bonded he still wouldn't be able to read her mind, though. He would only be able to hear in his head what she wanted to tell him.

"Outside under a full moon might be nice." It sounded like a nice romantic place to be bonded.

"Great!" Kate kissed him again. "When's the first full moon?" _It __had__ better be tonight_ was all she could think. Rick moved her off his lap and turned to his computer.

A moment later Rick said, "Today's Tuesday and the next full moon is Thursday night."

"TWO DAYS!" Kate wasn't going to survive two whole days. Still she did want to do it outside before it got too cold. They had been warned that it could snow deep and blow into large drifts. It was already starting to get cool at night. Snow started in November and lasted until May with significant snowfall in December to April. Twelve to twenty-four inches per week.

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Rick had driven all of them into town with one thing in mind. Well, maybe two or three things.

"The temperatures are going to start to fall in a few weeks and when it does the snow will begin falling. That said, we're all going to need winter coats, boots, gloves, and maybe even something for your head. So, if we don't find anything we like in town we're going to have to make the two and a half hour trip to Zurich to find what we want which is very probable. Here's your money." Rick handed cash to Jo. Jim was next. "Your money." Then Kate. "And your money." He looked at all of them. "Use it wisely."

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It took them only an hour to find that the local town had nothing they were interested in so after gassing up the mini camper Rick drove to Zurich to find what they needed.

First up was lunch before looking for a store or mall.

They had been in the city for two hours and while only Rick was fine being there, the others were having the usual problems. There were just too many people. Being in a big city meant danger to them.

Still an hour later and they were leaving the city and headed for home with their finds. Big down-filled coats, soft thick scarves to protect their faces, sturdy, warm, waterproof boots, and simple wool caps for the head as well as glittens, which were a combination of gloves and mittens. Rick's outerwear was all in shades of blue while Kate's was completely in purples. Jo's choices were entirely in shades of green and Jim's were steel gray.

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It was late. They were both sure Jim and Jo had gone to bed and right now Kate and Rick were standing at the lower patio, both dressed in robes since sneaking around naked was just a little too much.

The lights were on so they could see where they wanted to go on the way back. "Follow me since you've never been there before." Rick took off his robe and dropped it on a chair followed by Kate which left them both standing there naked. Since they were lovers they were comfortable with being naked in front of each other.

Next came the part that was going to hurt. Rick started shifting and did his best not to cry out from the pain of his bones changing, skin stretching, muscles changing. It took about twenty to thirty seconds but soon he was a Bengal tiger.

Kate looked him over and he was indeed impressive. He was just about twice her size when shifted and probably twice her weight. His head was big and his paws were much larger than hers. He was simply gorgeous in his orange and black coloring.

She scrunched up her face; since being hunted neither she nor her parents had shifted all that much. It had been long enough that she couldn't really remember the last time. She did know it was going to hurt. She really wanted to bond with him; she took a deep breath and began to shift. Unlike Rick, she couldn't help but to cry out from the pain that turned into a growl until finally she was done.

Rick growled his approval and moved in to rub his face up against hers. Where he was orange with black stripes, Kate was a lovely creamy white with dark gray stripes. She was gorgeous. She was smaller than him but he didn't care. He felt her rub her face on his.

Rick took off out into the woods and up the hill to where the solar panels stood. There were a few flat spots up there that should have grass by now to take over what had been dirt and mud.

Kate followed and was enjoying the view. The animal in her liked what she was seeing. His balls were big and she could occasionally see the shaft that hid his cock.

By the time Rick stopped at the first flat grassy spot she was hot and ready to bond with him.

Kate came right up, nuzzled him, and even licked his fur. Then she got a surprise – when he started to lick her their tongues met. Much like when they were human and kissing, they were using their tongues together.

Rick could smell her and it had his hormones working in overtime. His cock started to harden and extend from its sheath. That was when he identified the location of the scent. He nosed her tail up, ran his long tongue across her core, and loved the taste of her.

Kate felt his long big tongue make one long lick across her core and it had her growling her pleasure. As far as she was concerned he could do that all day. When he kept on licking she began to think that he might.

However, it also had a side benefit. She experienced her first ever orgasm as her animal. She was addicted to the feeling. It seemed to go straight from her core, up her body to her head, and then back again. Only to find that Rick kept on licking.

She was mewling, growling, and snorting as he kept on licking. She couldn't help it as another orgasm took over her body. She was still calming down from that orgasm when she felt Rick climb onto her, pushing her body to the ground. A lot of his weight was now on her back and he was heavy. Suddenly she didn't notice as his cock touched her core. All she wanted now was to feel him inside her and make her his.

Then he started thrusting and felt him filling her completely. He began pushing and pulling out slowly but was soon pounding himself in and out of her as fast as he could.

She could hear him grunting, huffing, then growling loudly. All at once he stopped; he grabbed the scruff of her neck and growled but remained on top of her. She wasn't sure but she could almost feel him fill her with his come.

Rather abruptly he was off but it was different. Kate looked as she found that they were back to back. Yet she could feel that he was still inside her. When she started to move she found that she couldn't. His cock was seemingly locked inside her.

Since she was her animal she couldn't actually say anything except to make animal noises.

While she liked having him inside her, it was a bit boring now.

She didn't know how long it had been but suddenly he was out of her. When she turned around she was met with his animal face that started licking hers. It had her licking him back. Then he moved down her body and started licking her core again.

Now this she approved of and started whimpering as he kept licking until she felt an orgasm coming on. But he stopped then climbed back onto her body and rammed his cock deep inside her and started pounding in and out of her as fast as he could. She hadn't liked it when he stopped licking her, but having him inside her was much better.

When she felt him stop she once again felt him fill her up with his come only to have him off her and again they were locked back to back.

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Rick was out of her and they were lying side by side while rubbing their faces together. Besides having had amazing sex as an animal she really didn't feel any different. Bonding was supposed to tie her to him and him to her, yet she didn't feel any different.

They were still side by side when she feel asleep.

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Kate woke up to the feeling of having Rick still as his animal licking her core with enthusiasm. She stood up and pressing herself into him, encouraged still more licking of her core.

She soon growled out an orgasm and then felt him climb up onto her back. She knew what was coming and really wanted him inside her. Like last time he wasted no time in entering her as deep as he could and was soon slamming himself in and out of her.

This time she felt an orgasm take over here just as she felt him fill her with his come. Once again she found herself locked with him as he couldn't pull himself out of her and they spent some time back to back.

As soon as he was out she spun around to rub her face against his. She continued to rub her face down his body until she reached a point where with his size compared to hers, she found that if she just bent down and in a little she could reach his shaft and balls.

That had her licking his shaft willing for his cock to come out of his shaft so she could lick it directly. She was soon rewarded by licking his hard cock and switching between it and his balls.

She heard him growling loudly; she knew that sound and started only licking the tip and found herself rewarded with him climaxing as she madly worked at lapping up his come as it spurted out.

He tasted different as an animal than he did as a human and she realized that she liked his animal come so much more. She had his come all over her face and moved to his face to share it with him. His face tasted a little different. She assumed it was because he had her all over his face from all the licking he had done.

It was really dark still and they had no idea what the time was so they laid down next to each other and fell asleep again.

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Kate woke up to find Rick still in animal form standing over her. She also saw that it was starting to get light meaning it was close to sunrise. It also meant that they should probably go home before her parents got up. Still she had one more wish.

_Maybe he's willing to have another round of sex this morning before going home._ She was just starting to get up so that he could lick her core again.

She saw him look at her suddenly. _I__'__d be happy to have sex with you again before we go home._ Rick had heard every word as clear as day.

That had Kate looking at him in complete surprise. She had heard every word he'd just said and yet she knew he couldn't talk in animal form any more than she could. She pressed her nose into his chin as he looked down at her. _Say that again._

_I want you._ Rick bent down to rub his face against hers and worked his way down her body until he was licking her core once again.

She was just starting to reach another orgasm. _Mount me, I want you inside me. Make me climax again__,_ Kate panted and felt him do just that.

He rammed himself into her deeply and started pounding himself in and out of her as fast as he could. It was wild. It was all animal and Kate loved it a lot.

_I'm going to climax!_ Rick roared as he thrust deeply into her and filled her with his come. They were soon back to back with his cock locked inside her yet again.

_Can we do this from now on?_ Her orgasms were much more intense. His cock was so much bigger and she loved having him inside her. She heard him chuckling in her head.

_I can hear you in my head. Does this mean we__'__re bonded? I really only ever want you as my lover._ She couldn't ever see being with anyone else.

_You__'__re never getting rid of me now. __Kate, y__ou __do__ realize you have to __remain as you are__ when we get back__, don't you?_ Rick knew what happened if she didn't as well.

_Yes, I know. My mom told me that__ I'll kill the babies if I'm pregnant __and__ shift back to human. Can we have sex again tonight? I really want you inside me. I love you and need you. It's so intense it__'__s amazing._

_We need to talk first._ He could change back to being a human while she couldn't.

_I'm not afraid__, __Rick. I love you._ Kate loved him so very much. Now even more.

_We should probably be married first or your parents will kill both of us__,_ Rick said, trying to calm her down.

Kate wanted to spin so she could face him but they were still locked back to back. _Was that you asking me to marry you?_ She didn't wait for his response. _The answer is yes if you did._

Suddenly Kate felt that she could move and turned to face him and saw that he still had an erection. _Don't move__, __my love. I can take care of that._ She moved down his body and leaned down low enough and in so she could lick his cock and balls until he growled loudly and she did all she could to catch it and lick his come off her face.

_My answer is still yes__, Rick__. I love you so very much._ Kate rubbed her still wet face up against his.

_I love you__, __too__,__Kate, always,__ and yes__,__ that was me asking you. Will your parents approve of all of this?_ He meant marriage and them bonding.

Kate was a little worried about them finding out they were now bonded outside of marriage. But with them getting married, she was sure her parents would approve.

_They'll love it._ It was too late for them to disapprove of them being bonded. It was what Kate wanted anyway.

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Will had arrived on his private jet at their true home that was twice the size of their summer home. It also had a huge security team to protect it. His own jet could have been shot down if he had so ordered it.

"What have you found?" Jackson needed some good news.

"We lost him at Heathrow. We have video of him leaving the airport but after that we don't know where he went. We have no evidence of him coming back into the airport. That leaves us with three possibilities. One is that he is still in the London area or at least in the area. Second is that he left the London area either via a private charter that's not as heavily monitored, which means he could have gone anywhere. Even if it meant stopping somewhere for more fuel before moving on that doesn't exceed how long the pilot is allowed to fly. Third is that he took a shuttle or train to France. A shuttle means a coastal landing. Train means Paris.

"I have a man on the coast. Another in Paris and one man each in the larger cities that whatever plane he may have taken within the time restriction for the pilot. Problem with that is that if the plane was small enough he would be able to land at airports that don't have control towers or even Instrument Landing Strips.

"He's really good. You've trained him well." Will knew that for a fact now.

"Escaping me is not the training he was given!" Jackson's fury was blazing at not finding him. His son was impressing him but he was still going to make him pay dearly for this. He had already found a facility that would remove his cock and balls. His price for this insult was going to be permanent and painful, forever!

"Keep looking. He can't have that much money." Surely he was dead broke by now. His finances were unchanged. He had no idea how he had even gotten the money to get as far as he had, let alone any farther.

"He's going to need money soon if he's not already living on the streets. Look into that also. He might even have a beard or allowed his hair to grow out and even colored it," Jackson suggested, his voice rumbling deeply.

"Changing his appearance has already been taken into consideration. Expanding our search to the streets will simply add time to the search, however, it will be done…, sir."

Jackson dismissed him with a flick of the wrist.

Will had been gone for a while when Martha joined Jackson. "Nothing yet?" She'd already had an earful from her husband and mate. While he did blame her for allowing him to steal her car, he hadn't blamed her for anything else. She had, after all, approved and had even helped him train their son.

"No! He's alluded us so far. But he will be found. I will never stop looking, never!" His son was not ruining everything that he had planned. He would do as he was told only he would do it as a subhuman without a cock and balls.

Martha really couldn't believe that her son would do this to them. She hadn't seen this coming or even noticed where it had come from. "You'll find him, Jackson, you have to." If her husband lost control it might lead to all their plans unraveling right before their eyes.

"I have something I need to do. I'll be gone for a few days. Do I need to remind you that you are to contact me if you hear anything?" He was letting his anger boil over and that only pissed him off more.

"Of course not." Martha was almost insulted that he would even think such a thing. She watched him walk away to get ready to leave. "Whatever you've done, son, it won't ever work out. …Not ever."


	14. Chapter 14

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 14_

Kate was really hungry after burning up a lot of energy lately and she couldn't hide from her parents forever. Besides she did love him so she followed Rick into the kitchen. Rick was a human and dressed while she was still a Panthera tigris, a white tiger.

"Well, there you are." Jo was teasing since it was looking like it was up to her to make breakfast. She was smiling as she liked Rick. Then she saw Katie who was still a tiger. The color drained from Jo's face. "Oh, Katie." Jo left Rick and let him finish what she'd started. She bent down and took Katie's head in her hands. "What have you done, baby girl?" But it was a question that she already knew the answer to.

Jo turned to look up at Rick who was avoiding her. Jo went back to looking at Katie. She couldn't answer any of her questions like this. "Okay, one tap of your paw for yes and two for no. And you better not lie to me or I'll make you hurt in ways you didn't know was possible. Got it?" Jo looked down and saw one tap of her paw.

"Okay, you two bonded last night, didn't you?" Jo looked down and saw one tap of her paw. She both should and shouldn't be angry. It was obvious that these two were sexually active. She had even bought those condoms for when they were. She'd just been trying to look out for her daughter.

"You've learned something, haven't you? The need to do it again is already pushing at you, isn't it?" She was young and full of hormones. Jo knew well just what she was feeling. She saw one tap of her paw.

"That's the animal within you. It has needs just as you do and if you let it it will rule your entire life. If you can't reach an understanding you may never be a human ever again." That was the risk of having sex in animal form.

"Ask Rick if you don't believe me. He's probably been his tiger more often than we have. I'd wager he's feeling what you're feeling right now."

Kate actually did look at Rick but didn't ask him anything. "You need to think, Katie, not react. Talk to your animal inside you. You two need to reach an accord or one of you might never be seen again." Jo truly feared it was going to be the human side of her. That was because Katie was trapped inside her tiger if she didn't want to kill any cubs that might already be forming in her body.

None of them were going to know until she was out of heat. Jo was also hoping that Rick could control himself around her. Her scent could drive him to have sex with her in animal form and guarantee that she was pregnant with cubs.

"_Jim, get down here__!__ These two have bonded__;__ Katie__'__s trapped in her animal and in heat. You need to talk with Rick or Katie may end up forever __a tiger__."_

Jo wasn't sure it was that bad, but it had the potential to be. "You're really hungry, aren't you?" Jo knew she was but asked the question anyway and saw her paw tap once.

That had Jo getting up and moving past Rick to reach the refrigerator. Fresh meat would be best. Freshly killed and still warm, actually, but unless one of them went out hunting for her that wasn't happening.

Jo found one of the few steaks that they had and took it out. She started cutting it up and put it on a plate. "Here, this will have to do for now. One of us can go hunting later until you can change back to human." If she could or was willing to. Though knowing that you might be killing your cubs made it damn near impossible. The animal in her would never allow it.

Jo watched as Katie nearly wolfed it all down in one or two bites_._ That told her that Katie was not just hungry but starving. "You're with me. This way." Jo took her to the living room just as Jim showed up to have a talk with Rick.

Jo sat in one of the chairs. "SIT and don't move an inch." She had a lot to tell her and didn't want her running away. If it wasn't so serious it would have been funny as Katie actually sat on the floor like someone's trained pet.

Jo took a deep breath and began speaking. "We're shifters so we're hated and hunted. Because of that you've not been allowed to be in your animal form. I'm going to talk to the animal inside you now.

"This world hates us and as long as you've been alive we've never met another shifter until Rick. I know what you're feeling, my animal has been trying to talk me into allowing it to come out now that we are in this place. On a limited basis it's going to happen, we both know this. However, we both know the dangers of being seen.

"We're almost extinct and the risk of that happening has never been greater. To find out that another shifter is the cause of this near extinction only makes it worse. One of our own kind has my animal howling in rage. You can probably hear yours clearly now." Jo glanced at Katie and saw her paw tap once.

"Humans rule this planet and being discovered means death. For all I know we three are all that remain of the Panthera tigris race. You want cubs; I understand that. But you also have to know what the threat is of having Katie in animal form for years. Through pregnancy, birth of the cubs, and then nursing them.

"It isn't just the time, it's the energy that's required. If we can't keep Katie well fed she won't have the milk for her cubs. The meat that will be required will place us all in danger. Rick's father isn't stupid and he has great power. He'll add to his search anyone who is buying lots of fresh meat.

"The two of you need to reach an agreement as we have reached an agreement. If Rick's father finds us, Katie dies and you'll die with her. You need to let her be human so she can talk to us. We'll wait until after we're sure Katie is or isn't pregnant. Don't even think about leaving from this spot until you two have reached an agreement. Do you to understand me?" Jo demanded. She looked at the tigress and finally saw a paw tap once.

"Good! Now just sit there and don't even think of moving. …Or else!" Jo thought about leaving the threat off but decided to add it. Then she got up and left Katie sitting there in the middle of the living room.

She found Jim and Rick still in the kitchen. "How are you two doing?" Her husband hadn't said a word which was good since Jo didn't need the distraction.

"I understand and my animal and I have reached a deal. It wasn't that hard. We both know what my father's capable of doing. Though the allure of being with Kate again is strong. There are only just so many of us. You three are the only shifters I've ever encountered outside of my father and mother," Rick told both of them.

"Your father has really been that thorough?" Jo was a little shocked.

Rick lowered his head and nodded. Even on the trip here he had never sensed another shifter. Granted they'd spent a lot of time in large cities where shifters dared not go, but he hadn't as yet sensed any in the nearby village which was very small.

"I hate that man!" Jo felt her anger for him rising. Her animal was waking up now that it had a chance for life while living out here. It felt safe for a change and even it was roaring against his father.

"By no one more than me." Rick had the scars to prove it.

"We're going to need fresh warm meat. Katie's going to crave it soon, pregnant or not," Jo warned.

"I'll go in a bit," Rick assured her. "I bought Kate a bow and arrows if one of you wants to come with me. I have things to do before we can leave, though. I need to construct a bag to carry it, bring a knife to prepare it with out there, and some rope to hang it with."

"I'll go," Jim said. "Jo needs to stay with Katie. Four eyes are better than two. Do we have traps?" They had left so fast that what they'd had been left behind.

Rick shook his head. "We'll probably need to go back to Zurich to get those. We'll need to go before it snows or we risk being trapped. We'll also need to stock up on food for when the snow comes. The VW isn't going to handle the winter weather. Only the car you don't like will be useful then."

"We have time. If Katie and her animal can reach a compromise that makes both of them happy." Jo turned to look where she had left Katie and wondered how she was doing.

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Kate, still as her tiger, showed up in the kitchen. "She says she and her animal have reached an agreement," Rick relayed and listened to the agreement. "Kate can be human provided that her tiger gets to go outside at least once a month. To run through the trees and have some fun."

Jo and Jim were actually a little surprised. That was basically the deal they had made with their tigers. "A family outing as tigers would be nice." Jo could almost not wait for that day.

"Let me get my things and we can go hunting. We'll have to go to Zurich again if we want say half a cow and arrange for delivery of a freezer to store it. We'll have to do that tomorrow if we want it to happen before it starts to snow." Rick headed for his new bow and got Jim the bow meant for Kate.

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"Is hunting legal here?" Jim asked, wondering if they were risking being spotted and arrested which would be very bad.

"High hunt ended in September. Low hunt which involves small game, ends at the end of November. Since we're in October now and with what we're after, the answer is no. But there's an exception. Hunting for Alpine ibex lasts all of October so as long as we're particular in what we shoot, we should be fine even if we're spotted," Rick explained since he was late joining Jim because he was on the Internet.

"What's an ibex?" It wasn't an animal he'd ever heard of before. Rick took a picture he'd printed to show him from his coat.

"It looks like a cross between a deer and a goat with goat horns. Shouldn't be hard to spot. Let's get started." Jim started walking. The sooner they found one and shot it, the sooner they would be back.

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Jo found Katie wandering the house slowly. "How you doing, sweetheart?" Jo asked then kicked herself. They had to be yes and no questions only without Rick being around. "Can I help you with anything?" That at least was a yes or no question even if finding out what that help was was going to be difficult.

Her paw tapped the floor twice. Well, that was a good thing. "If you're still hungry Rick and your father are out hunting for big game. It may take a few hours but they'll be back with something." Jo had faith in those two.

Jo saw her paw tap once. "You know the problems don't stop there." Jo had thought of something else that was going to be hard on Katie and maybe all of them. "The bathrooms are meant for humans, not animals. You're going to have to do all your business outside." Jo watched as she sat and huffed out a growl. "Even in the dead of winter if you are indeed pregnant. Several feet of snow." Jo gave her her best _Don't shoot me _face.

Kate lowered her head. She was going to freeze to death all because she wanted to bond with the love of her life. It was still worth it but the costs were starting to add up.

Jo ruffled her fur and Katie shook her head. Jo kissed her head even if she had been rejected. "There's just one more thing. You should probably stay inside as much as possible. Rick's dad probably has access to satellites that can read a license plate let alone spot a white tiger that's supposed to be extinct." Jo hated it but this was their life.

That had Kate lying on the floor before she literally collapsed. She had reached her limit. One more thing and her animal was going to get a tongue lashing from her.

"Cheer up, Katie, you could be pregnant with twins or even triplets." Jo was teasing her but Katie didn't think it was funny and growled at her. Jo laughed as she walked away to find something to keep herself occupied. She found herself in Rick's den and pulled down one of his books to read.

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Hunting in Switzerland was turning out to be more difficult than back home. Then Rick pointed and motioned for Jim to go that way.

It took a full thirty minutes but they were both happy and didn't care which shot killed it since both shots had been kill shots. Jim took out the arrows while Rick rigged his rope over a sturdy branch and together they pulled the carcass up so the center of the body was at shoulder height so they could start bleeding and gutting it.

"There's one good thing to hunting here." Jim was liking this part. "I've got you to do the carrying part and it's all down hill." Jim smiled widely at him and didn't miss the glare he was getting. It was easy on him even if he was carrying both bows and quivers.

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Rick was gone, leaving the three of them alone at home. Kate was spending the morning lying on her side in their bedroom.

Kate had succumbed to the need for sex again. Granted it hadn't been all her fault. How was she to know that she was still in heat and that Rick couldn't resist her scent. She was basking in the afterglow of amazing sex.

"_I love you__," _Kate said even though he was nowhere close. He'd gone to Zurich to get her half a cow, get it cut up, and try and figure out how to get a large freezer home to put that half a cow into.

"_I love you, too," _Rick replied.

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It took him three hours in town plus the two and a half hours to get there and another two and a half hours to drive back so most of his day was shot for a single trip. To top it off he'd had an additional idea that cost him almost another hour.

He had his half a cow. It was going to be three weeks before it would be ready to be picked up. He had his freezer and it was going to take three weeks to have it delivered that far. So hopefully the timing was right.

He also lost another thirty minutes when he stopped for lunch. He really hoped that dinner was waiting for him when he got home because his stomach was already rumbling. All told this one little trip had cost him nine and a half hours and he was starving by the time he got home.

"I brought goodies!" Rick smiled tiredly as he dropped the twin size sheets he'd bought. "I need some help with the rest of it. Would you warm up my dinner while Jim helps me?" Rick asked Jo.

A quick bumpy ride down the hill Jim saw that the VW had a twin-sized mattress in plastic strapped to the top. Then he found two comforters inside the VW.

"So how do we get this thing into the house and why?" Jim feared part of the answer.

"If Kate _is_ pregnant she's going to need a bed instead of sleeping on the floor, hence the sheets and comforters," Rick explained. Jim was very impressed with his thoughtfulness. Katie had chosen well.

"And the mattress?" He wasn't carrying that thing all the way up the hill.

"It goes on the roof." Rick pointed to the only car they had that was going to go up and down the road. "You haven't seen the freezer or the half cow I bought, yet. The cow I have to go back and get while the freezer is being delivered." That was the bad part.

Jim looked up the hill and then looked at the car that was going to take it up there. "I think my back's broken," Jim commented dryly and Rick burst out laughing. Looking at their two vehicles, it did present a problem as to how to get the freezer up the hill since he was betting the delivery truck wasn't going to make it. He needed a plan and had three weeks to come up with one.

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Kate was in their bedroom later that night with Rick; she nuzzled up to him and rubbed her face against him. _"Thank you!" _ She loved him a little more as she walked onto her little bed that was a mattress on the floor that had sheets, comforters and a pair of pillows. She didn't have to jump up onto their bed to sleep next to him and he didn't have to sleep on the hard floor with her.

"_I love you. Maybe we can christen my new bed with sex?" _Kate did her best to talk him into it. _"You could shift, lick my core, and then mount me. …You know you love it." _She certainly loved it. _"Please, babe, make love to me."_

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Rick woke up and realized that he was still a tiger and that he was the one that was on the floor while Kate had the mattress. He still wasn't sure how he had let her talk him into it. However, once he'd shifted her scent had hit his nose and he was a goner. In fact now that he was awake her scent hit his nose and it went from his nose and straight to his cock. That got him up, sniffing her and doing all he could to start licking her core.

"_Baby!" _Kate woke to find Rick licking her core and she was already just about there. She got up and missed having him licking her instantly. But she now wanted something else. _"Mount me, babe. I want you."_

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Rick walked to the kitchen after showering and getting dressed to find out from Jo that Kate was outside. "She can't use the bathrooms while she's a tiger." That made sense to him and wondered why he hadn't thought about that.

"And I'm the only one that can hear her to know when she needs to go outside." Rick saw a lot of getting up and opening doors and waiting in his future. "And when there's three feet of snow or more on the ground because the first snow is going to be here in a couple of months."

"We'll know if she's pregnant in a few weeks. Unless you two have done something." Jo's eyes narrowed.

"I plead the fifth." Rick opened the refrigerator so it blocked Jo from seeing him only to have her slam it closed on him.

"Richard Castle!" Jo glared daggers at him. Was he trying to make sure her daughter was pregnant and in her animal for at least the next two years or longer? If he was she was so going to rip the two of them a new one.

"I can't help it, Jo. I love her and she talks me into shifting and then I can…tell that she's still in heat and I don't have any will power and then she…" He came to an abrupt halt. "She wants back inside now." Kate saved him by wanting back in. …For now.

"Don't move an inch, you." Jo pointed at him and headed to the door to let Katie back inside.

Next thing they both knew they had been relegated to their own bedroom and instructed to have a nice long talk about whether they wanted Kate to be her tiger for up to three years with from one to three cubs to take care of. Who were also going to need to learn to go outside to do their business.

The fun and joy of having sex had just been removed. "_I'm sorry, babe." _Even if she was the one that was going to be trapped as her tiger if she was pregnant.

"_You're not the only one at fault here. I have no will power to resist you so it's not all __on__ you__,__" _Rick said, stroking her.

Actually Kate thought it was since she had already leaned that he had no will power once he got a whiff of her. Plus sex while she was her tiger was more intense and she had little will power to resist it.

"_Baby, can we make sure that I'm pregnant and then just plan from there?" _Part of the pain was not knowing if she was pregnant and since killing them by changing back to human was out, they might as well make sure she was pregnant and make plans for that.


	15. Chapter 15

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 15_

Kate's question got him up then down on his knees, facing her. "First, is this Kate the human talking or Kate the animal talking?" Because it was sounding like there was a difference and it was a difference he could understand.

"_Both of us. …Please don't be mad, but sex as an animal is better and I like it."_

"You mean new and different so you like it more and both of you like it. You really need to be sure here, Kate. We're talking about you being a tiger for two years. Then after giving birth you'll go into heat again and run the risk of being pregnant again so yet another two years. So you need to be very sure." It might be years before she could be human again.

Kate was too silent. "Keep in mind that my father is hunting for me and shifters are hunted by everyone, it seems. Even if they don't know you're a shifter there are such things as poachers and hunters that want to hang you on their wall or turn you into a rug." Maybe a little extra fear would clear her head.

That had Kate sitting up and looking at him. _"Are you asking me to shift back to human?" _She was actually thinking of doing it if he asked it of her.

"Of course not. Ask you to kill our children that we don't even know if we have? …I want to talk to Kate. The animal in you needs to shut the hell up. Am I clear?!" He was done with listening to what he feared was her animal.

Kate used her paw to tap the floor once and nodded. _"I'm here and you're right. I like it because it__'__s different. You're bigger and you feel different. I have to support your weight." _That was part of it. He was pressing down on her and for reasons she didn't understand she liked that.

"I thought as much since I can feel it just as much as you. I think it's because of my father that I can better resist what I feel." His features hardened. "This is how it's going to go, Kate. I'm not shifting again until we know for sure if you are pregnant or not. There isn't going to be any more sex until then. I love you and I love all of you. Besides, we can't get married if you're stuck being a tiger. Unless you've given up on wanting to get married." Was she listening now?

"_NOOO! I want to get married, I love you!" _Rick actually thought he saw tears starting to form in her eyes. _"No more sex __while we're tigers__. …Can we have sex as humans?" _Had she gone too far?

Rick started chuckling. "Yes. Keep in mind it's going to take a while to figure out if you are pregnant, if we can at all. I'm not sure those pregnancy test sticks work on animals so we have to wait," he warned her yet again.

"_I'll be good, I promise. So if I am pregnant can we still have sex?" _She was addicted to sex and she knew it. It was a good thing she had a lover to take care of that need. Rick began shaking his head.

"When you're your tiger you need to be in heat as far as I know. Once you're pregnant you won't be in heat any longer. It's not a question of if you want to have sex but if you'll be hurt because you're not wet when not in heat." Rick really didn't know.

"_Ohhh!" _Kate hadn't really thought about that. _"I'll wait and not pressure you. I promise and so does my __tiger__."_

"I just hope I've done enough to keep my father from finding me and us." He really didn't know just how powerful his father really was. Most of his hopes were pinned on being far enough away in a different country and hidden in a forest.

"How was the ibex meat?" Rick changed to another topic since the previous discussion had gone on long enough.

"_That was nice. A little weird eating fresh warm meat that was still bloody. Do we have enough?" _She was already a little hungry.

"Most of it's in the freezer while the rest is in the refrigerator. You're going to have to learn to like having thawed meat. Hunting ends in October and doesn't start up again for a year. The same is going to apply for berries and other things. Fresh anything is soon going to be in short supply if not entirely impossible," Rick warned.

"_I'll be fine." _Kate could live with that.

"We need to come up with a way for you to get outside when you need to. These doors aren't meant for animals unless I can find a really big doggie door and get it installed." It was all he could think of.

"_Maybe a bell I can hit with my paw?" _Kate couldn't believe she had said that. She would be asking to be let out like a dog so she could do her business. How demeaning could this possibly get? _"Pretend I didn't say that."_

"Can I tell your mother what you said?" Rick was chuckling a bit; he couldn't help himself.

"_You do and I'll bite you w__h__ere it counts." _Then she growled at him menacingly. All it did was get him to outright laugh.

"I'll see if I can find something online. You should go see your mother. She probably wants to bend your ear some more." Rick got up so he could go to one of his computers.

"_More like remove some of my ass."_ Still Kate got up and went in search of her.

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Rick was actually amazed. They made a doggy door that would fit in one of his walls for two inch to ten inch thick walls that was fifteen and three fourths inches wide by thirty-two inches tall. It was the largest one he could find so he ordered one and had it delivered to a P.O. Box that had a real address in Zurich. It said it would be shipped in one to two business days. With that done he checked to see if Gina had sent him anything yet and found nothing. Since he didn't need to do any writing he went back downstairs where he found all of them in the living room.

"I've ordered the largest doggie door I can find. I'll install it once it arrives so Kate can get in and out if needed or we simply keep it closed if we…don't. …What? You three look serious." They all looked not just serious but really serious.

"_I'm pregnant." _Kate wasn't sure how she felt. Her animal was ecstatic but they both knew it meant trouble for them.

Rick looked from Kate to Jo. "Are you sure?"

"I've checked her as best I can. Her vulva has returned to normal size and there's no more bleeding. While I don't know for certain if she's pregnant, her cycle is complete so now we wait so she's no longer in heat." But what Jo was telling him was different from what Kate had just told him.

"It's been what, a week or longer. Is that normal?" Rick questioned since he knew next to nothing.

"I don't actually know. There are so few of us that I don't know but it sounds about right." That was another problem with being hunted to extermination. They didn't know much about their own physiology. What was normal and what wasn't.

It meant they all had to wait. It also meant Kate had to remain a tiger for now until they knew more which might take several months for her to show.

All of them were quiet while they thought about it. "It doesn't change anything. I still love her with all of my heart." Rick knew that for a fact. Pregnant or not.

Jim and Jo smiled and Kate got up and went over to him so she could rub her face against him. _"I love you so very much, …Daddy." _She couldn't resist since it was certainly possible that he was going to be one. _"I need out__,__ please." _She had to pee.

Rick took that moment to ask a question once he came back from letting her outside. "When's Kate's birthday?" She was nineteen now so when did she turn twenty?

"November 17th, why?" Jo answered his question and asked one.

"It's October now so we'll know if she's pregnant by her birthday. Plus we have a party to prepare for." Rick was all smiles. "And I need a birthday present!" He was in trouble. "And a ring." He hung his head. So much was happening. "Can tigers wear rings?" He looked at his fingers and tried to picture one of his paws. It sounded like he was going to have time to get a ring so he could skip that for now.

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Rick was on what used to be their bed and she was on her mattress on the floor. And while the mattress was a lot better than the floor she wasn't liking this situation.

"_Rick, can I come up to you or you down to me? Please? I miss sleeping next to you." _He was human and she was still a tiger.

"Sleep on the floor?" As a human that sounded very uncomfortable to him. But before Kate could ask him again he got out of bed. She watched every move he made, thinking he was coming down to her. Instead he began doing something else.

"_What are you doing?"_ She watched as he pulled the mattress off the box springs and leaned the springs up against the wall. He took the side rails off the foot board and the head board and set them aside, leaning the foot board against the head board. Now it was just the mattress laying on the floor.

"Get up, please." Rick waited for her to rise and move to one side. Then he pushed her twin mattress up next to their queen mattress and arranged all of the comforters and pillows. "There, pick a side." Rick watched as she maneuvered to what had become her side and pawed the comforter a couple of times before settling down.

This was going to be different since they had never tried this before. Rick lifted up her front paw and placed it over him. He slipped his legs between hers and did his best to push her lower paw down her body then snuggled in close until his face was at her face.

"Better?" It earned him a big lick to his face.

"_I love you." _He had done this for her.

"I love you, too. Now go to sleep." Rick did his best to hold her close and closed his eyes.

"_I'm going to have to do without sex for a while__,__ aren't I?" _Kate felt her heart fall to her stomach. No sex as a tiger and certainly no sex as a human.

"When we're sure if you're pregnant or not, we can talk. We'll work out something. You're not the only one that will be going without around here, you know." Sex for both of them was going to be a challenge.

"_I can still lick you. Do you want me to?" _She was more than willing to get up and lick him until he climaxed. She might even like his human come as a tiger.

"Right now what I want is for you to go to sleep. We can talk later." He needed to think about just what he was willing to do when it came to sex between them.

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Rick woke up and found Kate licking his face. They had obviously moved a little during the night. Except…it was still night. What the heck? _"You awake?"_

"I am now and why is my face wet?" Rick swiped his hand over his face.

Kate groaned internally. _"I need you to let me outside." _She groaned yet again. _"I need to go." _This was _so_ humiliating. She had to ask to be let outside instead of just getting up and using the bathroom. _"Tell my parents about this and I __**will**__ hurt you." _She had the teeth and claws to do just that.

Rick found a robe, just in case, and followed her downstairs to the door that led to the ground floor patio; he opened the door for her and waited. When she eventually came back he opened the door and followed her back up to their room.

With a little work he was back to holding her close again. "_Thanks, babe." _Kate gave him a quick lick as a thank you since kissing was out.

Suddenly she heard Rick groaning. _"Have I hurt you?" _She was considerably larger than he was, had big paws, and while she hadn't bitten him, had she done something?

"I'll give this a try because I love you. But if I don't like it I'm stopping and never doing it again." Rick couldn't believe he was going to do this. At least not as a human. He loved her and didn't want her to suffer because she was stuck in her animal.

Kate felt him leave her and immediately missed him. She saw him go into their bathroom and return with a wet wash cloth. Then he was doing something that had her eyes opening wide. He was washing her backside! _"What are you doing?" _Of course she knew what he was doing but she didn't smell anything_._

"Cleaning you first." Rick finished and tossed the wash cloth aside. Then he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Here we go." It wasn't like he hadn't actually done this before. Just not as a human which was really the only real problem.

Since she was lying on her side he had to lie down and lift her leg a little.

A heartbeat later Kate found out just what he was doing. He was using his human tongue and was licking at her core. His human tongue wasn't all that big and it felt totally different. But it was working. _"OH, BAB__E__!" _It was taking time but she was actually enjoying it and could feel her orgasm building until she actually climaxed.

Then she talked Rick into lying on his back while she was standing and licking his cock. She watched as he got bigger and bigger until he came and she licked him clean.

"_You're amazing__,__ babe. I love you so very much!" _They had found another way to be close. It wasn't normal but then nothing about their lives was normal.

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Jackson was flying to his next meeting. Ruling a country was tiring work especially when the president you owned was liked by the people. Rather, he was liked because the state press said they should, but still. He wasn't smart enough to handle everything nor did Jackson truly trust him. What his own son had done to him had resulted in him not trusting anyone anymore.

Then he got an alert that he had a message so he brought his computer to life to read it. It was from Will.

_We got a facial recognition hit from a camera in Paris. According to the time stamp we__'__re now several weeks behind him. Far enough behind that a number of places will not keep a copy of their security recordings. We have no hits at the airport in Paris._

_Paris is a large hub for trains. Besides the large number of places that their trains travel to we cannot dismiss that he would simply double back and end up in Ireland or even Scotland. Getting a list of all passengers for all trains has proved to be impossible. This leaves a hole in our search parameters. I have sent one man teams to do searches in all major cities that are served._

_I will check back with you later._

_Will_

Jackson sighed deeply as he sat back and tried to think. He was still incredibly angry at his son but he was past blowing up and reacting. He tried to think about what his son knew and what he might do.

Then his phone rang. It was Will.

"We got a hit. A facial recognition that has an eighty-three percent match for your son. This could be attributed to your son changing his hair color and not shaving for days. I have a two man team dispatched to catch up to him."

"Where?" Jackson was thinking Rick might actually double back to Moscow. Dealing with Russia was and always had been a pain in his ass.

"Cairo!" Will replied.

"EGYPT?!" What the hell was his son doing in Egypt? The religious extremists would at best grab him and hold him over his head until he caved in and gave them whatever they demanded. For all he knew it might actually be state-sponsored or just a single group that got lucky.

"Find him before they do. Let me know what you need." He didn't have much there but he could send people if needed.

"Yes, sir." Will ended the call.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jackson muttered as he pulled up a map and tried to think. Egypt was not a good place for him or any other westerner. "Africa, what's in Africa?" What country or city was safe enough for him to stop in and maybe evade him. "Somewhere that they speak English fluently enough."

Jackson picked up the phone and made a call. "Focus on South Africa. Ignore Egypt; we're already far behind him. We need to catch up. And look into what farms have been sold recently. A number of farms there contain hundreds if not thousands of acres. More than large enough to get lost in and attempt to live off the land."

Will didn't agree but Jackson was the boss and he was paying the bills. "Yes, sir." Will hung up and worked on getting a larger team into South Africa. But his team in Cairo was going to continue. Eighty-three percent was too good to totally ignore.

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It took almost a week for Will to call Jackson again to give him an update.

"We found the guy in Cairo. It wasn't your son. Turns out his name was Johnny Jet. He owns one of the major distilleries in Kentucky. He was looking to expand his shipping and distribution. They may be Muslims and officially don't drink alcohol but that doesn't stop them from drinking.

"My team has reported that the most recent sales of farms in South Africa have been accounted for. I really think that's a dead end, sir." His opinion was that they were wasting time. Time they didn't have. Unless they got lucky they might not find him.

"What I want to do is go back to Heathrow and Paris and start anew. My opinion is that your son is smarter than we're giving him credit for. If I'm right he's already settled in and believes he has disappeared…, sir." Will didn't mean to make him angry, but he didn't need any more of his interference.

Jackson growled since he what he heard was him being dismissed and they were talking about HIS son. It was just that Will was good at his job and he had an entire country to run.

"Fine, just find him and don't stop until you do. There are no limits on expenses and failure is not an option. Do I make myself clear?" If Will suddenly told him he couldn't find his son he was a dead man.

"Yes, sir, I hear you perfectly." Will ended the call and while he was going to keep looking for his son he was also going to initiate work on his escape plan. His son might know how to disappear but Will was a master at it. His plan was going to include a little nip and tuck.

It was time to start letting his hair grow out, including his beard. Jackson had money and was a good client in that regard. However, he was also extremely dangerous and not to be underestimated.

He pulled out his burner phone. "Hi, honey. We need to start thinking about where we want to retire. Start thinking about locations where you'd want to live the rest of your life and start a family."

"That bad?" Kim asked, her voice shaking.

"Potentially, yes. Just start thinking of places. Don't write anything down. Don't use the Internet from home or on your phone. And what ever you do don't talk to anyone without talking to me first. I'm dead serious, Kimberly Ann." If she didn't listen someone like him might find them and what Jackson would do to him and his wife was something he didn't even want to think about.


	16. Chapter 16

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 16_

"Stand here for me," Rick told Kate as he placed the doggie door up against the wall to find the right height for her and any cubs that she might have. "Looks like you're going to have to duck a little. You'll get the hang of it." Kate walked away as he got to work cutting a hole in his inside wall. He'd fix the studs and then repair the outside wall after installing it.

Kate was due for another check-up by her mother so she went there next. When Jo was done she still wasn't sure though the signs that she did see suggested that yes, she was pregnant. "Rick might be right. We won't know for sure until your birthday." Jo was thinking it was one hell of a birthday present.

"Come with me, sweetie. I'll cut up a steak for you and thaw out some berries for breakfast." Jo knew one thing for certain, her appetite was increasing. She was eating more and gaining weight. Was it because she was pregnant or was she just getting fat?

Kate had gotten used to eating out of the biggest bowl they had that she could get all of her face into so she could lick the bowl clean when she was done. Essentially she was eating off the floor while everyone else ate at the table after she was done.

The second she was done she trotted to Rick. _"Can you let me out__, please__?" _He was installing the door next to the door that led out onto the lower patio. Rick stopped what he was doing to open it for her then went back to work.

He hadn't made all that much progress when she was back and he let her back inside. _"Thanks, babe." _She rubbed her head up against him. She headed for the living room to lay down on the floor and just watch everything happening even if only her father was on this level.

"You ready to be a mommy?" Jim thought he was teasing but then considered what he'd said and wasn't so sure. He watched as Katie tapped twice.

"You are starting a family a little young. But I'm thankful that you can have a family." Jim shook his head. The planet had gone to hell in a handbasket for all shifters. "You'll do fine, Katie, you've got us." She used a paw to tap once.

"Oh, my, would you look at that?" Kate got up to look where Jim was looking. Except she didn't need to look where he was looking. She saw that it was snowing lightly. Their first but certainly not last snowfall.

"I need to talk to Jo. We may need to make a trip into town while we still can." A lot had arrived in a short time. Rick had gone to get the doggie door and found out that their freezer had arrived so he had it delivered to the garage where it had been installed. The very next day he'd gotten a call that his half a cow was ready so he and Jim had driven out to collect it.

It had been divided into various cuts, labeled and wrapped in butcher paper, and taped shut. It had filled the freezer. Granted, to get any of it you had to go down to the garage, but it had beat trying to get the freezer up to the house then up the stairs and into the house. Let alone finding somewhere in the house to put it.

They had agreed they needed to stock up in case they got snowed in for weeks. Rick had also warned them that they might have to go up to the solar panels to clear them of snow so that the batteries could charge. They had a fireplace in the living room, but the house was all electric so they needed those solar panels to keep working or it was going to get really cold.

It took Rick a few hours to complete the project and he had called for Kate to give it a try. He turned out to be right. She kind of scraped the sides as she went out, and she did need to duck just a little as she picked up her paws to step through it. Then she came right back inside.

"_It feels weird having something go across my back. But thank you." _Kate rubbed her face against Rick. She didn't need anyone's help to get out of the house and back inside any longer.

Since it was still snowing, though still lightly, they chose to stay inside and not go into town. They had most everything and didn't need all that much. Rick had about three cords of wood sitting under a plastic tarp for the fireplace so they didn't need to cut down a tree or find a dead tree to cut up.

"Anyone for a movie? We've got ice cream." It was the only way to watch a movie as far as he was concerned. _"I'm in!" _Kate said enthusiastically and trotted to the kitchen to watch him dish it out. She couldn't wait for her bowl since her bowl was the largest one and she didn't even need a spoon.

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It was almost Christmas and while they didn't have any Christmas lights or Christmas decorations, they did have snow. Lots and lots of snow. A storm had blown through and left three feet of the stuff everywhere. More if you counted the wind-blown berms that had been created.

Rick and Jim used shovels to create a path from her doggie door out into the woods for her so that she didn't have to go through snow that was as deep as her legs. It was the first snowfall her tiger ever experienced, mostly since all her life she had only ever shifted a couple of times. It was far too dangerous to risk their animals being seen.

Because of this Kate was presently outside bounding around in the snow, scooping up mouthfuls and eating it. "Looks like fun," Rick commented as they watched her having the time of her life. The three of them looked at each other. Then Rick raced to the front entrance while Jim and Jo took the dining room. Stripping off their clothes, they raced each other outside to join her.

There were now three white tigers and one Bengal tiger running and jumping around in the snow, even tackling each other just to make sure they were covered in the white stuff.

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Rick and Jim were resting in the living room while trying to get their strength back. Playing in the snow had been hard work. "I should have installed an exercise room. I'm out of shape," Rick managed to get out.

Jim started shaking his head. "We just need to shift and get out more. I haven't done anything like that since before I even met Jo." He'd had some fun when he was younger.

"Your parents?" Rick inquired even if he did fear the answer.

Jim shook his head. "Gone…, not long after I met Jo. We were out on a date doing what teenagers were supposed to do and falling in love. We came home to her place to find the place surrounded by police cars. We might have just been kids but we both knew what that meant. So we went to my house.

"We'd been there maybe an hour explaining what was happening at her house when the police cars began showing up at our place. My parents shifted and ran out the front, taking all of them with them. It gave us just enough time to gather up my parents' emergency stash and run out the back.

"We've been running ever since." Jim's silence grew as he was lost in his memories. That was the last day he ever saw his parents. He was just a kid who had to grow up far too quickly that day.

"I'm sorry." His father was no doubt behind it and he had done nothing about it. Granted he was being molded and whipped almost daily and was just a young child at the time, but still it was because of his family.

"It's not your fault, Rick. You weren't in charge and even if you had known at that age, your father would have just beaten you even more." He didn't blame the young man in the least. "Besides, look where we are now." Jim spread his arms wide to encompass the entire house. "Jo and I have never lived in a place anything like this. We should be thanking you for doing this. For risking everything." Jim had no illusions as to what his father would do to all of them if he found them.

Rick didn't get to respond as Jo and Kate showed up. What they had been up to they didn't know until… Jo broke the news. "Katie's definitely pregnant. I'd say about two months or a little less if I had to guess."

They had all noticed that she was gaining weight and that she was eating more and was seemingly always hungry. "Which means?" Rick asked since he actually knew very little about his own animal's physiology.

"It's late December so that means we can expect to see from three to seven cubs sometime in February would be my guess," Jo replied.

"Se–seven?" Rick stammered, eyes wide.

Jim was right behind him. "Seven?"

"_**SEVEN?!**__"_Kate looked at her mother since she had failed to mention that little bit of information.

"I had three brothers when I was small, before…, before…" Jo felt tears well up and Jim hurried to her side, wrapping his arms around her.

"Before we came home from our date to find our entire world had changed," Jim added.

"Seven." Rick was trapped in that one word and couldn't get past it. Kate walked over to him and laid her head in his lap.

"_What are we going to do with seven?" _She wasn't yet mad at the animal inside her for this, but she would be later.

Rick took a deep breath. "We adjust, what else can we do?" He stroked her head then bent down to kiss it.

Jo was still feeling teary and was resting in her husband's arms but she did have one more thing to mention. "I know from my mother that while I only had three brothers, initially there were more. Mom had six of us, but only four of us survived." It was an ominous warning for Kate and Rick.

"_OH, NO!" _Kate sat down with a thump; what she really wanted to do was curl up next to Rick and let him hold her. Her mother had just told her that not all seven, if she had seven, might survive. They could have a few dead cubs.

That got Rick down on his knees. He gathered Kate in his arms as she sat there.

"I'm sorry." Jo knew what it meant, but they needed to be prepared for it. "It broke my parents' hearts at the time, or so mom told me. But that's life. Maybe you'll just have three and that's the end of it." It was possible, after all.

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All of them had been quiet for the remainder of the day, lost in their own thoughts about what might happen.

Rick and Kate had finally retired to their bedroom. _"Babe?"_ She really didn't know what to say or even do about it.

Rick was as close as he could get and not end up crushed by her. "We'll deal with it. We'll bury our babies that don't survive, and cherish the ones that do. Love them like they've never been loved before." He didn't see what else they could do.

"_February." _It was only a couple of months away. Apparently tiger cubs grew fast. _"We're going to have cubs running all over the place. …We have stairs!" _Suddenly she had fears of seeing all of them tumbling down the stairs and killing themselves.

"We'll create a barrier or better yet, you move downstairs and stay there even after the cubs are born. Once they're up and moving around they need to learn to use the doggie door anyway." It was that or let them pee and poop all over the house.

Kate sighed. She hadn't foreseen actually moving out of their bedroom. She didn't want to sleep without him next to her. They had to think of something.

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Kate had let Rick know that she didn't feel very well so now she was on her mattress and comforter on the ground floor, partially under one of the computers but also near her doggie door. She hated it mostly because she was now all alone. She was late in her pregnancy and so far being pregnant as a tiger had only been a nuisance. Now it was starting to be a pain.

Then a real pain struck her and she grunted. It wasn't until the third one hit her that she called for help. _"RICK, BABE, it hurts__!__" _That had the desired result as Rick came racing in wearing only a robe.

He placed his hands on her and even felt the next contraction. "I'll get your mother." Then he was gone in an instant only to be replaced a moment later by Jo.

Jo hadn't asked but she found a pan of warm water along with a pair of wash cloths and a stack of towels next to her. Jim and Rick then retreated. For whatever reason Kate didn't want them to see the cubs being born.

Actually what she was really afraid of was giving birth to one or more dead cubs. If it was going to happen she didn't want everyone seeing that.

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"I'm really sorry, Katie, so very sorry." Jo left the living cubs with their mother while she carried the tiny dead bodies outside. It meant putting on a coat and trudging through another layer of fresh snow. She had only just made it out the door when Jim and Rick showed up to the sound of cubs whimpering.

They also found Kate licking them clean even though Jo had used to towel to get them to wake up and start breathing. So they were already a little clean.

"Three." Rick was happy with that until Kate told him the bad news.

Jim had warned Jo what to expect when she got back from burying the dead ones, but it still struck her right in the heart.

Rick was helping the last one to reach his mothers teat so he could start suckling. Then he laid down next to her and kissed and stroked her head as Kate used her tongue to lick his face.

"We're grandparents, Jo. Can you believe it!?" Jim couldn't be happier. He put an arm around her and pulled her in close as they watched the new family. "How are you feeling?" She was the one that had taken it on herself to take care of the three dead cubs.

"I'm fine. We've got three live cubs and Katie's healthy. Now we have to keep her that way while these three grow." For the moment the fear of Rick's father didn't enter their mind, but it would eventually.

Jim wanted to ask about the ones that didn't survive. What sex where they? Were they Panthera tigris or Bengals? Then he had a better idea. But he chose to ask first. "Should we have a funeral for the three? They had a chance but didn't make it. They should be mourned. There are so few of us."

Jo leaned her head on his shoulder. "We can ask them. …Tomorrow. We've got two male white tigers and one female Golden Tabby tiger. I'm surprised at that," Jo said as she wiped her tears. "They're extremely rare. A recessive gene, I think." She sighed tiredly. She really thought this day would never come. Their lone surviving cub… That had caused them enough heartbreak. They both had internalized the fear that she was going to be the very last white tiger and she was going to live her life all alone. Now maybe their kind had a future.

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No one got any sleep that first night. Rick spent it with Kate and the cubs even if it did mean laying on the floor. Then either Jim or Jo or both together kept coming downstairs to check on everyone. Mostly the cubs just slept or got help finding their mother's teats, since none of them had yet to open their eyes and wouldn't for at least a week, if not a little longer.

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Will answered his burner phone, knowing that it could only be one person. "Have you arrived yet?" Was she there? Had she had any trouble?

"Are you sure about this, Will? It has grass for a roof!" It also had stone walls for the first floor and the second floor was wood that looked like it had been burned on purpose which meant it was black. Add to that the trim around windows, of which there were many she had to admit, was a deep red.

Kim had traveled under a different name and had flown from home with just two suitcases. Everything else had been left behind. From there she'd taken a small commuter twin turbo jet, then from there she had to take a ferry, which meant they didn't even have a car.

"I know, love, I know, but I'll be there soon. I just need to do a couple of things. Try and settle in. I promise I'll be there just as quick as I can." Will hung up on her.

He had no idea where Jackson's son had escaped to and right now he didn't care. Finding him now was going to take blind luck. Will had to hand it to him. He'd done his research and had escaped his father. He'd gotten himself totally lost.

Will was certain he was using a different name. He had no idea where he'd gotten the money or what he was doing now. Will, however, had also planned ahead. He and his wife both had new names, new passports, and Work and Resident Permits. They were soon going to be brewers of local beer. In addition they had a little land for a farm and even a few animals.

Richard Rodgers obviously had a new name and had hidden himself well. Well, he wasn't the only one who knew how to disappear. Will's choice of disappearing was to move to the Faroe Islands which were part of Denmark. This particular island was small and he was going to be surrounded by a lot of acres so he, his wife, and future family were going to be all alone.

What he needed was a nice big truck and a way to get it there. Then he'd go on a shopping trip and fill the bed with all that they would need for now.

"Goodbye, Jackson, and thanks for the money." Will took Jackson's phone apart and crushed it. It was his first step in disappearing from a truly evil man who just happened to pay really, really well.

Will also had no doubt that Jackson would hire someone else to find his son and probably him as well. But he wasn't going to make it easy for the megalomaniac.

. (slash)


	17. Chapter 17

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 17_

Kate had been quiet – too quiet – ever since giving birth. Granted a lot had happened in a short time. They had taken fifteen minutes to leave the cubs all tucked in surrounded by the comforter. Just long enough to say goodbye to three white tiger cubs.

Right now Rick was lying next to Kate who was busy nursing, yet she still hadn't really said a thing. "What's wrong, Kate?" Rick rubbed his hand against the side of her face, digging it a little deeper this time. He felt her pushing back.

"_I lost three." _Her heart was in such severe pain and she didn't really know what to do about it. Rick could hear her still crying as she spoke to him in his head. Even he didn't know what to say that would make it better. Three children that were now never going to be were gone.

"You have three very healthy and strong babies. Try to focus on them, love. We still have to give them names. Think about that." They had time since they weren't going to respond to anything for a while yet.

"_Can we give the other three names?" _Kate didn't want to just say _them _when she thought about them and thought about where their souls were now.

"Of course. We can even name them first. Just as soon as I ask your mother what sex they were." That was the only thing that they needed. Jo had taken care of everything and had taken that pain onto herself. "Maybe your mother has a name or two we can use. A family name we can use," Rick suggested and it earned him a quick lick to his face.

"_What about your family__?__" _He was only talking about her family. But he had a family, too.

Rick shook his head adamantly. "I'm not giving my father or mother the satisfaction even if they will never know." He just kept shaking his head. He was the end of the Rodgers line and he wanted it that way.

When one of them had had enough Rick took him away, wrapped him up, and set him to one side so Kate could get up safely and not have to worry about stepping on someone.

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Jim and Jo wouldn't admit it but they did worry about how Rick would treat the young cubs and even Katie. All based on how his own father and mother treated him. However, he seemed to be going well out of his way to do the exact opposite.

He brought her water, he brought her something to eat. When she left to go outside to do her business he watched over all three of them and even checked each one every few seconds as if something would happen when he wasn't watching.

Then when one or more of the cubs either peed or pooped on the comforter he took it away while they were nursing, replaced it with a clean one, and washed the dirty one.

He had been doing it as a human all this time. Then a couple of days after the cubs had opened their eyes and actually started to make noise and fight each other for THE perfect teat of their mother, Kate had put her foot down and put an end to that.

One day Jim and Jo came down to watch and found Rick had shifted to his tiger while Kate was on her side, tucked in under the counter that held the computer with each cub at a teat. Rick was perpendicular and the two of them were busy… Well, kissing was the best way to describe it.

Mostly it was a lot of licking of the other's face that also included licking each other's tongue. When they did that Jim and Jo retreated to give them some privacy.

"I have to admit that for a Rodgers, he's nothing like his father," Jim remarked in relief. "You think we stand a chance?" They had only been there a few months. But now they had a lot more to lose.

"I'd like to think so, I really would," Jo answered. Between what had happened to them and all the other shifters, only to find out it was a shifter behind all of it had shaken them beyond belief. Jo wasn't willing to allow herself to give in and hope that fully.

"His father has a lot of power. And how had he found all of us? There has to be something." How did they avoid that when they knew nothing about it?

"We can ask him…, if he knows." Jim said, shrugging. And while they didn't want to push Rick especially with cubs in the house, but maybe that was a good reason to go ahead and question him. Jo nodded. They would ask him.

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"Davidson." Jackson greeted him at the door and let him in and took him to his library. Jackson observed that he was tall, relatively young, and handsome. Not exactly what he'd expected him to look like.

"What can I do for you, Rodgers?" He was usually the last person someone would call for help, which was also why he charged an arm and a leg.

Jackson liked it. He got right to the point and didn't waste his time. "I need you to find my son as well as the previous man I hired to find him." Will hadn't answered him for weeks and now he was almost desperate. He would do it himself except he had other problems.

Davidson didn't even raise an eyebrow. He did find it really interesting that he'd lost control of someone, let alone his own son. "How long has he been gone?" Just how long had he waited to call him? That would tell him a lot.

Jackson decided to begin with when he had stolen his wife's car. "A little short of six months."

Davidson kept his poker face though in his head he was thinking Jackson had lost control and that finding anyone this late in the game was near impossible. "You're aware that my methods are extreme. If he's out of the country I will create an incident that you'll have to take care of." Davidson didn't care about life any more than Jackson did. Capture, torture, and murder were just some of what he did.

"I'm not concerned about that, just find them." Jackson didn't care. One tiny little complaint from someone outside of the country didn't concern him.

Davidson thought about it. "Fifty million…pounds." Davidson listened to him growl loudly at him and he even showed him his teeth. "Seventy million." If the billionaire did it again he would raise it to a hundred. He was his last resort and he knew it. If Jackson didn't like it he could search for his own damn son.

"Fine," Jackson growled softly. He hated it even though he had several times that in his safe.

"Half now and half upon completion. Who's the other person you want me to find?" He had said he wanted two people found.

"Sorenson." Jackson watched him closely. But Davidson was impossible to read.

Davidson kept his composure but he was really surprised. He knew Sorenson; Will abandoning the search and then getting himself lost told him a lot. It also told him that finding either of them was going to be extremely difficult. Will knew how to disappear while he was betting his son didn't.

"Alive or dead?" Davidson queried since that might change his price which was already going to change to add Will to this search.

"I want my son alive so I can skin him myself. As for Sorenson, I want to hang his head on my wall." Jackson actually pointed to a space on the wall in this room where he was going to hang it.

Davidson stated his price and waited. "One hundred thirty million pounds. Half now, half upon completion plus travel expenses." Jackson swallowed his growl and remained silent.

"Thank you for calling me." Davidson turned and began walking away, heading out to his car.

"Agreed!" Jackson had the money. It was just that he couldn't wait any longer. Enough time had already passed and Sorenson had failed him. He needed to regain control of the situation. "You have three months to complete the task."

"The price just went up to one hundred fifty million pounds." If he tried that again he was walking. The money was nice, however, he also knew that Will was dangerous and wouldn't be taken easily. So if Jackson wanted to play games he would walk and kill everyone Jackson sent his way.

Jackson was ready to shift and rip this guy apart. He wanted to eat his heart and drink his blood. His primary problem was that Davidson was now his best chance of ever finding his son anytime soon.

He walked away to get him his money. It took him only fifteen minutes but he was back with a large cloth bag. "Seventy-five million pounds in American bills." Jackson dropped it at his feet since there was no way he was handing to him. "Three months." If he didn't he would send a totally different team or teams to take care of him.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you, Jackson. I'll be in touch in a month," Davidson said.

Then Jackson said, "I've added a portable drive that holds everything Sorenson found."

That also told Davidson something else. There was something on that drive that he wasn't going to like. Hell, he had no intention of even keeping the bag. He pointed out the terms of their agreement. "I said pounds not American dollars. If you can't meet the agreement you should have said so." Davidson left the bag where he had dropped it and stared coolly at Jackson.

This time Jackson did growl. No one, literally no one, treated him like that! He was the one in power here, not anyone else. Did he really have to teach Davidson that?

"The price just went up to two hundred million POUNDS." Davidson knew weakness when he saw it. It was partly why he was so good. Plus he had little doubt that Jackson had several times that amount in every currency on the planet.

Davidson watched as Jackson picked up his bag and stalked off. Davidson was correct; he'd won and knew Jackson was desperate.

Jackson dropped the same bag on the floor at his own feet. "You will provide weekly reports, not monthly." If he said anything besides _yes _ Jackson was going to kill him and eat his heart right then and there.

"We finally have a deal." Davidson kept both eyes on Jackson as he picked up the bag and backed away from him. "One week." When he was far enough away Davidson turned around and unconcernedly walked to his car.

Once he was gone Jackson took out a device and activated it. He watched all day long as Davidson made it home which told him exactly where he lived. He then contacted his security force. He was sending a team to watch that spot twenty-four hours a day.

He knew Davidson was single and had never married. He also went through women with ease. He clearly enjoyed women and then dumped them to move on to the next one.

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Davidson had his clothes packed in under twenty minutes and that included transferring the British pounds from one bag to another one. It was only a working home so he didn't care what happened to it or what he left inside it. It also included leaving what Jackson had added to the bag as well as everything Sorenson had accomplished, not that he bothered to look.

He had looked over each bundle as he transferred it and was satisfied with all of it.

Happy with his six different ID passports for himself and one other and his International drivers licenses, he went out the back door, opened the garage door, and got into his piece of junk. Well, it looked like a piece of junk on the exterior. It turned over instantly, the engine purring. He backed out and plowed through the back fence right where he had weakened it just for that purpose and started driving.

It wasn't really all that far but it felt like it as he kept turning and doubling back just to make sure he didn't have a tail.

His first stop was at a small local bank that didn't ask questions. He deposited the money and had it all transferred to an account in the Caymans. Then he quickly moved on to his next destination.

He hurried up to the door and knocked. A pleasant looking middle-aged woman answered the door. "HI! She's in the living room, waiting for you." Josh smiled at her and headed for the living room.

"DADDY!" He had been spotted and the only person in the world that he cared anything about came rushing at him where she was lifted up and given kisses. "Daddy!" She wiped at her face to get it clean again.

"We need to get you packed, little bit. We have somewhere we need to go. You're going to love it. Now go pack while I talk with Shawna." Josh put her down and smiled as he watched her run off.

"This is for you." He handed her a fat envelope filled with money. "Thanks for taking care of her." He dropped his gaze briefly. He hated to let her go but he had no other choice. They had to leave – now. "Shawna, we won't be back. I've paid you for the remainder of the year and a little something extra as my thanks." She had been taking care of his daughter since she suddenly and unexpectedly became a part of his life at a year old. She'd been born with a condition that had required twenty-four hour a day monitoring. Doctors' visits and pills had been a large part of her life until about a year ago.

"She's been a joy, she's such a happy child. Oh, don't forget – you're going to need her medication." She took the envelope, retrieved the pill bottle and handed it to him. "She's already had her pills for the day." She looked at him earnestly. "You're sure you want to do this?" She was his child but she had fallen in love the little girl. And Shawna knew that no longer being a part of Becca's life would be difficult for the little girl because she loved the woman, too.

"I don't have much choice. We need to get going and not come back." He was certain he didn't need to remind her not to talk. "If you have a trip you want to take, now would be a good time." He was spared any other questions when his daughter came running back into the room.

"DADDY!" She came running back into the room wearing her little unicorn backpack. He already knew he would need to do a lot of shopping for her when they got there. They were both going to be traveling light.

"All packed?" She nodded her head. "Thank Shawna for watching you."

Becca wrapped her arms around Shawna's legs. "Thank you!"

"You're more than welcome, honey." Shawn hugged her, tears welling up. She was really going to miss her.

"Take that trip as soon as you can. Maybe a nice long cruise." It would get her out of the country for a while. Shawna knew little about what he did. But she did know it was dangerous and if he was suggesting she leave town, she was going to do it.

He would use the laptop stored in his car to move all of his money to yet a different account using Shawna's Wi-Fi. Even if the bank talked they would find nothing. He would move it yet again later.

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"Ready?" He looked in the mirror at his daughter secured in her car seat and saw her nod. He put the car in gear and drove off.

Eight hours later he stopped a cheap hotel and checked in using one of his fake IDs. Tomorrow they would make it to their first destination. Getting into Canada was still easy enough and not well guarded.

One more hotel room and they would be flying the following day.

"Potty," Becca whispered to Josh after the plane had taken off. He got up and took her to the forward lavatory since he'd spent a lot of money on the first available first class seats he could find that got them out of the country. After that he would do more planning on how to get there and under what name. He still had a long ways to go with a number of stops. He knew his biggest challenge was keeping his little girl happy all the way.

This flight would be his only use of a commercial airline. From this point on it would all be charter planes or charter boats until he could purchase his own boat that they were going to need.

Then the alarm he had set on his watch chimed; she needed her medication. He had maybe two weeks' worth left which reminded him – he needed to find a doctor soon to get a new prescription for her.

With as many women that he'd gone through he still wasn't sure how the little girl had gotten to him. Her mother was dead and he was all she had. He loved her and she was getting deeper and deeper into his heart. It was probably just going to be her and him for the rest of their lives. But never say never.

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"Where are we going, Daddy?" She was tired and cranky and she missed Shawna. She loved Shawna.

"We're almost there, sweetheart. Just one more boat ride. It has a pool so you can do a lot of swimming." He hoped that would help her want to get there.

"But I can't swim." She had never gone swimming.

"I'll teach you, not to worry. You're going to live in a swimsuit after we get there. Lots and lots of sunshine, and lots of sunscreen." Or she was going to burn fast.

"No snow?" She hated snow and hated being cold.

Josh chuckled. "No snow. Let's go. One last boat ride and then we have to do a little walking." He would carry her if he had to which wouldn't pose too big of a challenge since neither of them had all that much.

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He unlocked the front door and walked inside after walking what felt like forever down a boardwalk. "Here we are. Go find your bedroom." He watched her drop her backpack and speed off.

He was amused that her first thought was that she was upstairs and saw her fly up the stairs that were just to the left of the front door. He let her go, closed the door, and headed straight ahead until he was standing next to the pool. Though in truth he didn't really need the pool since the entire house was on stilts over water that he could easily swim in.

Since Becca couldn't swim, swimming lessons were now a top priority.

She had found her room, she was sure of it. It was really big, too, and she even had her own bathroom. Then she got the doors open that went out onto her very own deck. Looking out all she saw was water. Then she looked down and squealed.

She raced back down the stairs and only just managed to just stop next to her dad. "POOL, DADDY!" She had never seen anyplace like this. Her daddy was amazing. Then she saw a deck with chairs just beyond it. And she noticed stairs leading down to the left. She began running again.

She finally worked out that the door slid to one side instead of swinging open. She blew through a large bathroom that had a tub taller than she was that was right in the middle of the room. Through the next door and down the stairs, she found herself on the deck.

Then she saw something else and ran for it. Down another set of stairs she found herself in a round area that had yellow seating all the way around with a roof above it.

She turned to look and still saw him just standing there. "DADDY!" He should be down there with her and exploring. Little did she know that he had long since seen all of it and just for them, had bought it months ago. He'd had no idea just when he was going to move there, but when Jackson was willing to pay a hundred million pounds in untraceable cash, now was the time.

"Come back, sweetheart. We need to unpack and see if we have food." They didn't and he knew it. He knew what it was going to take to get food, but he also had to do one more thing. They had to go shopping for a boat. Getting anywhere was only by boat so they had to go back by boat to the main island where the airport was located, go looking for a boat, then get it here. With food from the grocery store.

He had no idea where Sorenson had escaped to but this was where he was disappearing. As to where Jackson's son was, he couldn't care less.

"All unpacked? We have to go buy a boat next." Josh smiled when her face lit up. He couldn't remember what life without her was like and he didn't ever want to know. So long as he got to see that smile he could do without killing people for money. Adding Jackson's money to what he already had meant they would both live very comfortably for the rest of their lives.

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"So which one?" Josh pointed at the one he wanted but he just wanted to see her smile again.

She really wanted that one over there, it was much prettier. But this one made her daddy smile and she liked that, too. "Okay." She was willing to make him happy.

"Mine's a GULF CRAFT MAJESTY 48. It has bathrooms and it's pretty on the inside." He was sure she was going for the color of one of them. It just wasn't what they needed. He tapped her on the tip of her nose. "Now, little bit, we have to go get groceries so we can eat, and we need to find a new doctor for you."


	18. Chapter 18

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 18_

"NO, NO, NO!" Jo had spotted Autumn squatting to pee. Unfortunately it was already too late. "You do that outside!" The little cub got taken over to the doggie door, encouraged to go through it and spend some time outside. It wouldn't last long even if she didn't come back inside on her own. It was down right cold outside.

That also got Kate to get up and move to one of her sons. If one had done it the other two weren't going to be far behind so with mom laying down the law the other two got nosed out the doggie door to do their business.

Autumn got to come back inside when she tried, however Noah and Oliver only hit a brick wall when they tried it. Two minutes later Kate went out the doggie door to retrieve them before they turned into popsicles.

"I'm making grocery run for meat, any volunteers to come with me?" Rick showed up dressed for the trip. He just had to put on his coat, gloves, scarf, and his cap.

"Jim volunteers to help you," Jo piped up quickly. Jim glared at his wife. It was well below freezing outside. What was worse was that there was only one car that could make the entire trip.

The VW was relegated to the garage which meant the other car had to make the entire trip into town. That car didn't have any heat which really didn't matter much since it also didn't have any windows or even a windshield.

"Katie and the cubs need meat," Jo told him softly. They had some meat but it was going to go fast at the rate they ate it. The cubs had only just started eating solid food and still mostly relied on their mother for sustenance, but that was changing slowly. The freezer in the garage was empty so all they had was in the kitchen.

"Fine, but we're having something warm for movie night tonight." Jim pointed at everyone as he got up to retrieve his cold weather gear. What he did for his daughter and his grandchildren.

As soon as they were sure the cubs were eating solid food consistently Kate was free to change back into a human for the first time in months.

Jim came back into the room all dressed for a cold trip into town. "Put some wood in the fireplace. I'm sleeping in front of it tonight." Muttering under his breath, he headed out the front door to join Rick.

Jo added one whole log to the fire, sat back down, and went back to watching her grandchildren playing with each other, play fighting. It warmed her heart since she had once been certain this was never going to happen.

Then seemingly as fast as it started all three were down for the count. Since it was all quiet Kate got up, walked over to her mother, and sat down, facing her. She couldn't talk and didn't dare shift yet. If she did she could destroy the milk she still had and that might be needed.

"They're beautiful, Katie. I can't wait for them to be old enough to shift. I want to hear their little voices." Jo watched Kate use a paw and tap once for yes.

"He really is a good man. His father might be pure evil but you were so lucky to find his son." She might be bonded but being married officially was more of a challenge for both of them. They all lived in Switzerland and the Becketts actually had Swiss passports. They just happened to be fake passports.

They needed to wait for when Kate could talk to determine if it was worth the risk.

Their talk with Rick about how his father had found so many shifters came up empty. Rick hadn't been told. It was one of the reasons their getting married officially was such a risk. A simple blood test would rat them out instantly. Actually they theorized that was how the first shifters had been found. A traffic accident and a simple blood test. Even a female shifter in her human form going into the hospital because of pregnancy issues would disastrously alert the authorities about her, her husband, any children they already had, and naturally their parents and any other family members. They would be put to death immediately.

Even if they didn't really need them since they were naturally very healthy. Far more healthy than a normal human. But say they went in to get just a simple flu shot. A reaction to that shot might have given them away.

Rick really had no idea. It was information that his father had yet to share with him, if he ever planned on sharing it with him. You didn't get such absolute control and power by sharing your power with anyone, even your son.

"How do you feel, Katie? Any pain still?" Giving birth as her animal wasn't painless as Kate now knew. She tapped twice for no.

Jo got up to add another log to the fire. Her husband might only have been complaining just to complain, but it didn't hurt to keep the fire going strong. They still had a lot of wood to use. It was mostly outside but it was also mostly dry since it was all covered.

Hearing one of the boys whimpering and twitching had Kate getting up to go over to him and use her nose to push him a little followed by a quick lick. It seemed to do the trick as he calmed back down.

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Now that Kate wasn't in heat any longer Rick was more able to shift and spend some time with the cubs. Except that soon became a problem. When he was a tiger he really didn't want to be around them. His heart loved them but something was pushing him away.

That got him onto his computer to do some research. "Oh, bloody hell!" He found out why and he didn't like it. Then he found Jo climbing up the steep stairs to find out what was wrong. Kate was outside with the cubs making sure they did their duty outside and not inside.

All Rick did was point and let her read. "Well that sucks." They had both just learned that in nature the male got the female pregnant then walked away. It was up to the female to do all the work. Teach them how to hunt, where to go, what to do, and what to avoid. Then when they were old enough the cubs would just sort of go away.

The females would stay closer to their mother while the males would be long gone and possibly far away. Though even the females would prefer to be alone.

"We need to get them to shift and stay that way." They needed to be humans and live their lives as humans or Rick's father might find them and kill them more easily.

They also learned that about two to two and a half years after giving birth the female would go into heat again and ready for the next batch of cubs and repeat until she no longer could.

"You're either going to have to stay human or keep fighting it when you shift." Jo didn't see any other answer. "The cubs are on their second week of solid food. They shouldn't need Katie much longer, at least not for milk, but they're a long ways away from being able to shift." They were going to be tiger cubs surrounded by humans and neither of them were sure that was a good idea.

"Maybe if we all take turns as our tigers so that one of us can play with them. Take some of the weight off of Kate." It was all Rick could come up with.

"Jim has agreed," Jo informed Rick since she had just asked him.

"So has Kate." Rick had just finished explaining it to Kate.

"We can start next week if they don't go seeking out Katie for her milk. Three weeks of solid food should be enough. I hope the freezer is full again." The cubs didn't eat a lot, but they did eat very often.

"Almost. We may have to go out hunting and risk being caught. The town only has just so much meat in their grocery and Zurich is out of the question." His VW wasn't meant for this weather. Maybe his purchase hadn't been such a good idea. He might have to rethink it come spring once the snow was gone.

"You said you own most of this mountain." Surely it was safe for them to hunt on their own land.

"I do, but there are such things as poachers and people willing to hunt illegally. Maybe they need the meat just as badly for different reasons." Meaning not shifters but someone with a family and not a lot of money. "We can cross that bridge later. For now we're fine. It does tell me that I'm going to need another freezer down in the garage for next winter, though, and do more hunting come October." He was learning what it took to live there and the need to plan ahead.

Jo had a new concern and since she had everyone there, more or less, she asked, "Are we trapped here? Can't go anywhere else?" Granted it was the very nicest house she had ever lived in, but if they could never leave it did that make it a very nice prison?

"The children don't need ID cards, only we do and we have those. So no, we're not trapped. We just need to carefully plan where and how we get there. Don't even think about going back to the U.S., though. That would be suicide." There was no guarantee his father or anyone else would know they were all shifters, but going there was beyond dangerous.

"No, of course not. I'm not stupid. I was just curious. We can't go anywhere until the cubs can shift and stay human because they have to. It will be two or three years at the very least. We can plan in that time and decide what to do." Jo was happy for that. Then a fear hit her. "How do we get the cubs IDs? Ours are fake. Do you know anyone here that can get them?" Was that a new problem?

"They were born here, Jo. We don't need to get them fake IDs. They're going to go to school here, make friends here. Learn how to drive here. Have a crush over their first girl or boy here. Our only real problem is what happens then? They can marry and have children with a human, they just can't reveal their secret to them. The locals will have grown up hating shifters and even if they did love them, they would still turn them in and get them killed." It was Rick's only real fear. What future did his children truly have?

"Maybe the future will change by then," Jo said and didn't believe it even after she said it. "First things first. Getting them to shift into humans." She patted his shoulder. "We'll work on your natural aversion to your own cubs when you're your tiger. You've done well so far."

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Jo and Jim were on babysitting duty while Kate was presently resting naked on an equally naked Rick. She had just had her third orgasm and needed to rest before doing that again. It had been a while and she wanted to try and catch up.

"I'm going to run out of condoms if we keep this up." Rick wasn't sorry that Kate had turned out to be very highly sexed. Her libido and sexual desire were way up there.

Kate smiled while she thought that over. She'd been pregnant as her tiger and while it hadn't been pain free, it had been relatively fast. Obviously being pregnant as a human was going to take a lot longer.

"You'll just have to risk being turned into a popsicle because we have a lot of lost sex to catch up on." She wasn't interested in getting pregnant again so soon. Maybe a number of years from now…maybe.

"Oh, so I'M going to have to risk being frozen into a popsicle. There's something seriously wrong with this picture." He wasn't the one getting pregnant.

He was still inside her when she sat up and looked down at him. "Because you love me." Kate smiled, knowing that she was using his love for her to get her way. Something she was perfectly willing to do.

"Lucky for you I do." Rick started to reach up for her breasts but stopped. "We need a new condom." This one was full and if they kept using it it was likely to break.

Rick got her on her hands and knees this time and since she was still wet he plunged in all the way in one swift stroke. Kate cried out before biting her lower lip to keep silent as he sped up.

Kate was a little annoyed that he couldn't just spin around and be back to back with his cock trapped inside her like he had when he was in his animal form. In fact he softened quickly and slid out of her easily. Still four orgasms on her first day as a human was a good start.

The mattress was still on the floor since Rick hadn't bothered to put the bed back together yet. Then there was a knock on their bedroom door and they heard Jo's voice. "I hate to interrupt but I think we need mommy and not Jim or me."

Kate had really wanted to bask in the afterglow of having had sex but duty called. Both of them got up and put on clothes. To speed things up Kate went without a bra, partly because her old bras really didn't fit her all that well. It seemed even as a human her breasts retained some milk producing capacity. Rick had even found out what her milk tasted like.

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"What are you doing up here, babe? Starting another book?" He was in his study and at the computer.

"I do need to, but no. The last one came out before Christmas and is doing well enough to make us more money." His latest book hadn't yet taken off like the others had. Black Pawn wasn't displeased and Gina wasn't going to dump him, they had just both hoped for better results. Plus they weren't in desperate need for money.

"I'm just trying to do some early planning for a family vacation. Trying to figure out where we could go that would be safe for all of us and still far away from my father. When they're old enough to travel and not just spontaneously shift on us."

"That would be bad," Kate quickly agreed; getting out of the house sounded like a good thing to her. "What've you got so far?" She could either give her blessing or shoot them down.

"Well, one is a Mediterranean cruise. Mostly Greek islands. We would need two rooms to add your parents." He hadn't found a stateroom large enough to handle all of them and even then the kids might end up having to share a bed.

Kate wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on top of his. "I still don't understand your father." Hers wasn't anything like his. Hers was what a father should be, exactly what Rick was being to their kids.

"Don't try, it'll only give you a headache." Rick twisted his head just enough that he could kiss her quickly.

"What else?" So far the cruise sounded nice enough even if she did need to learn more about what a cruise was.

"Well, maybe a beach somewhere or an island all to ourselves. Which leaves out Hawaii since my father controls it. We would need to stay very far away so maybe the Maldives. They have some really nice homes we could rent for a week or two. Teach the kids how to swim in the ocean." Rick began showing her pictures.

They looked pretty big and some were four bedroom homes and even had their own beach. They almost looked better than their house.

"I like! Keep it on the list. What else?" She had no idea just how many locations he could find.

Rick brought up a picture. "So far just this. I'll keep looking."

"WOW!" Kate leaned in closer. "Ten bedrooms and ten and a half bathrooms?" It was too big. "Thailand? Where is Thailand? And what does it mean by staff?" It looked really nice but maybe way too big. "Better keep looking, babe, that thing is just way too much."

"It says it's a great place for weddings." Rick turned to look at her and saw her wide smile.

That comment went straight to her heart. She kissed him passionately. "I do love you and really do want to be married to you. Can you focus only on places where we can get married?" He had one at least.

"I can do that." Rick turned back to his computer to start a new search. Kate kissed him again before leaving him to his work. They weren't getting married until the kids could stay humans and that was going to be a few years from now.

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Kate was back a few days later to see Rick's updated list of places where they could get married.

Ani Villas, Thailand

Santorini, Greece

Castello Di Vicarello, Cinigiano, Italy

All Ubud Resort, Payangan, Bali

The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, India

Kate saw a few pictures along with the reminder that they had to be very far away from the United States and his father.

"What do you think, Mom?" She knew nothing about any of these places. Not even where on the planet they were located. But even her mother and father didn't know all that much more. They were never going to get out of the country, so why bother?

"I… I don't know. They all look amazing. I guess part of the question is what are we all going to do besides attend the wedding? How are we going to keep the kids busy and happy? So maybe the more isolated it is the less likely it would be to be a good place." Jo didn't really know either.

"If you think you can handle the crowds. So maybe a little of both?" It was the best she could come up with. "We have time. Have Rick keep looking and then decide."


	19. Chapter 19

**Absolute Power**

_Chapter 19, Epilogue_

Three years later

"MOMMY!" "DADDY!" Rick and Kate were getting it in stereo yet again. They would be getting it in triple stereo if such a thing was even possible except Autumn was with Jim and Jo, not that that saved those two any.

The flight had gone off pretty well since none of the three had ever flown before. The children had spent most of the time reveling in just being in the air. Though that eventually turned into fighting over who got the window to look out of.

Thankfully once they got high enough all they saw was a lot of nothing which minutes later had put all three kids to sleep.

That was followed by a seven hour layover in New Delhi which was where things really got worse.

As much as Kate wasn't happy to be surrounded by people all over the place, the kids were just the opposite. They wanted to meet everyone especially since so many of them didn't look anything like them and a lot of them had these red dots on their head.

"Mommy, dot." Autumn wanted one since a lot of women had one and even a few men.

"No, sweetheart, you can't have a dot," Kate told her which didn't go over well.

Autumn tried again. "MOMMY, DOT!"

"This is an airport, little love, you can't get one of those here. Maybe at the hotel or in the city. You're just going to have to wait." Kate lifted her up to carry her. What they were all looking for was a place to eat. One that catered to English-speakers since none of the different way of writing that they used told them anything.

Finally finding one that had the menu out front that was also in English they chose that before the kids had had enough and decided that a temper tantrum was what was called for.

Unfortunately they had to wait for a table that could seat seven. Then came the really hard part. "Babe, what is all this stuff?" She could read the words well enough, it was just most of it didn't make any sense to her.

Even worse was when Rick shrugged. He hadn't ever eaten Indian cuisine. Thankfully their waiter was very helpful. He had served people who only spoke English before.

In the end they mostly ordered what he had suggested that wasn't too spicy or just plain weird sounding. What they got kind of looked like what had been talked about but only just.

It took some work and they were all soon taking stuff from their plate and giving it to someone else who got some of what was on theirs as they all kept taste testing what was on their plates.

It may have looked rather comical but if it kept the kids happy and they actually ate what was on their plate it was a win in their eyes. Now they just had to wait to see if any of this gave anyone diarrhea, which sadly, was possible.

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The kids slept in their seats while waiting for the next plane as did Jim and Johanna.

"_How are you doing?" _Rick knew all of this might be overwhelming her since she wasn't a fan of big crowds plus New Delhi wasn't a small city.

"_A little on edge but I'm fine. You're sure no one knows that we're all shifters?" _They were sitting in one long row of seats watching people coming and going left and right, then right and left.

"_They all have tunnel vision and don't even see us. Watch them. Do any of them even look our way? Do you see anyone in uniforms with weapons running __toward us__?" _They only looked their way to see if this was their gate or not, and even then they were looking for a place to seat down that wasn't right next to someone.

Kate watched and saw that he was right. They were all mostly interested in where they were going and not running into someone along the way. Their big group barely even got a glance. They were just a tired-of-flying family waiting for a plane.

She watched people buy things then walk away. Most everyone was doing what they had been doing. Walking while carrying or dragging a carry-on, and everyone, literally everyone, was dressed so very differently from everyone else.

It didn't take much to spot the Americans out of the group. They were all dressed differently and they were ALL overweight. Not to say that Kate didn't see other fat people, because she did. It also had her wondering how some of them sat in those seats on the plane. They were all flying first class so their seats were rather large, however, she had gotten a peek at the really narrow seats further back in the plane. That was when she spotted it.

"_BABE, your book!" _Kate pointed to where it was sitting. In big bold letters in English it said **Richard Castle**. It had her smiling, knowing that even here they sold his books. His money was all the money they had, though granted until he became a part of their lives they had only emergency money that mostly never got spent.

Kate was still producing some milk for which she was thankful since Rick had commented that he really liked the size of her breasts now. He had even managed to get some milk out of them. She was happy that all of the baby fat as a tiger had left her when she shifted to human. So she was mostly back to being tall and thin. Just with all new bras that fit her.

"_It's a little over an hour until our plane leaves. Bathroom break. You get your mother and take Autumn and I'll get Jim and we'll take the boys." _Rick was hoping that doing it now meant they didn't have to get up and use the tiny lavatory on the plane. Especially when they had been informed on the previous flight that one of the toilets at the back of the plane was now out of order. There were four total so now there were three. There was only the one forward in first class.

Getting sleepy kids to wake up and into the bathroom AND to actually do something was the first challenge. Getting them to not fight over who got the window seats was the next one.

Just being on the ground while watching all the other planes and all the workers doing things kept them interested. Then came trying to keep them from all changing seats to get a different view.

Thankfully with the first class flight attendant helping to lay down the law when the plane was ready to start moving, the three of them stayed in their seats with seat belts on. Then all three of them were straining to look out their respective windows to see the ground disappear beneath them.

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The Kohinoor Suite was for Rick, Kate, and the boys. It came with a living room, dining room, master bedroom with its own bathroom, two twin bed suites that each had their own bathroom and their own private pool. For swimming lessons since neither boy could swim.

One Luxury Suite was for Jim, Johanna, and Autumn. It came with a living room, dining room, master bedroom with its own bathroom, one twin bed suite with its own bathroom, and their own private pool. There would be swimming lessons for Autumn as well since she couldn't swim, either.

Both were amazing and luxurious and completely different from home. "I could learn to like this." Jo was liking what she was seeing.

"GRAMS, COME SEE!" She just had to see this. Jo and Jim walked into the living room where Autumn was holding up a picture.

They had all seen the pictures of the place that Rick had shown them. The bar, the lounge area, being able to take a boat out onto the lake, the painting school, the yoga area, the traditional workshop, astrology reading, Safa tying class, henna painting, camel riding, working with clay, junior cooking class, a treasure hunt, block painting, a magic show, pot painting, and even a kite making and flying contest.

It was what had gotten them to choose this place. It was a place to both get married and yet keep the kids entertained almost twenty-four hours a day. It was also a place where Kate could go shopping for a dress that she hadn't known she had to have for the ceremony. Rick could go into town to shop for a ring. It was just about perfect.

"What have you got there?" Jo took it from her and looked. It was the one thing Rick hadn't shown them if there had been one. It was an aerial view of the entire compound and to say this place was large would be understating it. She handed it to her husband.

"I never even knew a place like this existed." This place was so far outside of their league. It was only because of Rick's money that they were there. Or better yet that their daughter had run into him on a rainy night that was far away from here. Jim was still impressed by it all.

"Let's go find your parents, we have work to do." Rick and Kate were getting married in two days and that didn't leave a lot of time. Plus everyone needed something to wear to the wedding.

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Kate, Jo, and Autumn went looking for wedding dresses and soon found themselves swimming in choices. Kate did her best to pare it down to just three choices before being allowed to try each one on.

One was a true sari. It had a short-sleeved top called a choli that was all red and gold that left her midriff bare. The white fabric that made up the skirt was also embroidered with red and gold and wrapped around her waist where it was pleated in the front and tucked in. The fabric continued around her body and was draped over her shoulder to make a sort of train down the back.

Another was full of soft colors of red, green, and gold in a very intricate pattern that started at her waist and flared out until it reached the floor. It came with what was basically a bra using a similar pattern that had lace sleeves down to her elbow. It too left her midriff bare.

The third had a skirt made of silk that was a soft pink color and over that was a sheer pink skirt that had a design woven in in gold. The top was more of a cropped blazer with long sleeves. She kept calling it pink while the sales lady kept correcting her calling it ice passion pink. The top was a mix of both materials that made up the bottom. Like all of them they exposed her midriff. It too had a sash that went over the shoulder and became a train.

Her hair when Rick had first met her had been very short almost a boy cut being that the back was so short. It was mostly because it was the best her parents could do plus she didn't need long hair getting in the way when she went hunting.

However, she didn't go hunting any longer. She left that to Rick and her father and even they only went hunting every October. Now her hair was much longer and curled naturally in large wavy curls.

"Mom?" She stood there in the last one totally confused.

"Sweetheart?" She was willing to listen to her daughter as well.

"Not a fan of the second one, maybe a little too busy for my taste, but it's your wedding. So the first one or this one." Jo at least removed one of them. Autumn was simply standing there nodding her head.

Jewelry for the third gown was next. She selected one that was a circle over her head and had a lovely set that rested on her forehead. Then she found out about fake piercings that went on her belly button. One that looked like a diamond that hung from a loop that pinched her belly button.

Next they had to find Jo and Autumn something to wear. Something that would fit in for the location.

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Rick soon found that the local suits didn't look anything like the ones in the U.S. Certainly nothing like the ones his father wore.

Without knowing it he had narrowed his choices down to three much like Kate had done.

First was one coral colored coat with a Mandarin collar. It had five cloth and gold buttons and flared out at the front. Under that was a pair of pants that flared way out and tapered down to a tight fit around the ankles. The ensemble finished with slippers that had upturned pointed toes and were the same color as the pants.

Second was a beige and gold jacket that was equally long with gold embroidery. Under that were skinny bright red pants that ended with simple beige colored slippers. He had a sash that he had to hold his arm at his waist for that draped over it, looped across the back and up over his left shoulder and down to the bottom of his jacket. It was red and beige.

Third was a really long jacket that was a light cream with a gold design repeated all over it with long sleeves. It too had the same style collar as the other two. Under that were unornamented narrow beige pants and finished with plain beige slippers. It was simple yet elegant.

"What do you three think?" Jim and the boys had been watching it all.

"I think the red one is out unless you want to hold your arm like that all day." Jim threw that one out easily. Rick nodded. He really didn't want to do that either. That left two.

"I guess do you want some color even if it is kind of a pinkish orange in color or something more simple?" It was the best Jim was willing to do.

"Boys?" They had been amazingly quiet given that they never sat still for anything.

"This one, Daddy," Oliver said while Noah just bobbed his head in agreement.

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Rings were next on the list. This was where he found out that India was different here as well. None of them looked anything like that gigantic thing that was on his mother's finger.

A few looked more like they were meant to cut her finger off since the stones went all the way around the ring. He ignored those.

He finally settled on a simple platinum band that had fifteen diamonds embedded into the band that were each 0.300 carat. Fifty-five thousand one hundred six Indian rupees turned out to be seven hundred seventy-four dollars and two cents. He chose a matching ring for himself but with only a single diamond at a cost of eight hundred ten rupees and fifty-seven cents.

Next they had to go shopping for Jim and the boys. Since he and likely Kate were going to be dressed locally so should they.

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The hotel was willing to make a small change to what they normally do. They had six venues in total that ranged from seating for twenty-five indoors to one hundred fifty outdoors. However they only had seven people in total and that included three children.

So they took a small pavilion with a dome which had a gorgeous blue roof that normally was used as a simple seating area, had those seats moved away, and had flowers added around the room. The man that officiated most of their ceremonies simply stood in the middle with Rick and Kate in front of him and the others were spread out where they pleased to stand.

First, though, Rick, Kate and the others learned that the wedding was basically a two day affair. The night before the actual ceremony there was a party where the parents of the bride and groom met each other. They were supposed to dance and have fun.

Since Rick's family wasn't invited they had the party and danced without them. Food was not involved since the parents were supposed to remain pure for the ceremony the next day.

The next day was the actual wedding.

_The bride's saree _(alternate spelling for sari)_ is tied to the groom's scarf to symbolize the union of the souls. During a similar ceremony, a cord is tied around the couple's necks to protect them from evil and they are typically tied by elders of the bride and groom._

_One fun ceremony is called mangal pheras. This is when the bride and groom circle the sacred fire four times to represent dharma, artha, kama, and moksha and they run to their seats—whoever gets there first will rule the household._

_In Saptapadi, the groom helps the bride touch seven betel nuts with her right toe while they recite seven vows. Finally, seven married women from the bride's side pass by the couple and whisper blessings in the bride's right ear. After the wedding, the bride is carried out by her brothers._

_The bride then leaves for the groom's home where her mother-in-law has placed a vessel filled with rice at the entrance of the home. The bride is supposed to spill the rice by touching it with her right foot to signify wealth and that the bride accepts her new responsibilities._

_Another fun game for the newlyweds is called Aeki Beki where a tray of water is mixed with milk and sindoor (vermillion) and it is filled with coins and a ring. Whoever finds the ring four out of seven times will rule the household. The day is then concluded with prayers to God requesting happiness and love for the newlyweds._

Kate ended up kicking out the seat from under Rick in order to win so they tried something else. Since Rick's parents weren't present that eliminated one of the games.

Also Kate didn't have seven married women from her side attending the wedding so that only left one game left to try.

"AH HA!" Kate held up her ring for the fourth time and according to the game gets to rule the household. "I still love you…, husband." She kissed him; it was just a game, even if it had been fun.

Next came the food for all along with the more American traditional dancing and having still more fun.

Kate found her mother in front of her with tears in her eyes. "I never thought today was ever going to come. I just wanted you to have a chance to live a long life." Now she was doing so much more. A now crying Kate hugged her.

"I love him, Mom, I love him more than anything." Kate was with her in that she had never seen this day coming. The world, with America in particular, was just far too dangerous for shifters.

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"Hi, Dad, movie tonight?" Their place had a movie screen out in the ocean just off the beach that was there for everyone. They showed a movie weekly. They had to take their chances on just what they got, but that was part of the fun.

"I'll get the food if you get the drinks," Josh said and began searching for just what they had followed by their basket to put it all into.

"You ready for school?" he asked as they laid down a blanket to sit on. That was the part of where they lived that was difficult. They walked off their deck onto their boat and then across the water to the city each and every day for her to attend school. …TWICE PER DAY!

Becca groaned little. "Yeah." It wasn't so much going to school, though that was part of it. It was that to make it in time by traveling by boat she had to get up very early in the morning. That and she really didn't have all that much time when she got back home.

Josh had stayed in town until school was out a lot when she was younger, though he still did that from time to time. Or he would come home and putter around the house.

Between what Jackson had paid him along with what he'd made from his other jobs, he didn't need to work. Though he had found something to keep himself busy during the day. He didn't earn any money doing it but he thought he was getting better at it.

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"Is this your newest one?" Kim asked as she sipped then drank half of it in one big swallow. Before they came here she wasn't sure she was a beer drinker. She was now, though, and she was enjoying it.

"Like it, do you?" Will smiled since she was still drinking it.

She had to swallow first. "It's good. One of your best yet. Maybe this one will actually be accepted by Marcus." She had learned to hate that man. He thought HE knew beer and what her husband made was swill! She rolled her eyes at the very idea.

"Time will tell. Maybe if I add a little arsenic." Will was teasing since anything like that was in his past now.

She chided him. "Will!"

"I was only joking. Now comes the fun part. Cleaning out the kettles for this beer and not allowing the previous beer to taint it." His kettles weren't the largest in the world. But then the amount of beer he brewed wasn't all that much anyway. His place truly was a real micro-brewery.

"How are your beds doing?" They augmented what they bought with what his wife, who had always had a green thumb, grew for them.

"We could really use a dog, honey. Something's getting into the garden and into the raised beds. It's not burrowing in so it's either getting through the fence somehow or over it. Or _someone_ is leaving the gate open." She glared at him since he was her primary suspect.

Will caved, not that he didn't want a dog. "I'll go looking for a puppy for you tomorrow. You can spend all your free time training him or her to your heart's content."

"A nice big one, not one of those miniature things." Those were NOT dogs so far as she was concerned. This was a working place, not a lazy, yappy, lap dog kind of place.

"Just so long as he or she," Will gave that to her as well, "learns to like to drink beer. …In small amounts," he added hastily when he saw the look she was giving him.

Satisfied that she'd gotten her way, she drank the rest of her beer and got up to get another one. She couldn't drink him under the table yet, or maybe never, but it wasn't from a lack of trying.

Instead of sitting down with her beer she went next to him and kissed his cheek. "I'm glad we moved here. It was a good idea after all." She had been a little dubious at first. "Maybe later we can work on that family?" Kim gave him a come-hither look.

"Good thing we're out of condoms," Will replied with a grin and this time got kissed soundly for his response. He took her by the hand and they disappeared into the master bedroom for a little…practice.

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Jackson had just flown back into his summer home and entered the library to find Martha with her nose buried in a book. "What are you reading now?" Ever since his son had run out on him she had taken to reading most days and now their library was filled with hardback books. Some that she had read and that she hadn't yet read.

"It's a new one. He's pretty good. You should find time to read one of them." Martha held it up for him to see the cover.

"Richard Castle? Never heard of him and I have more important things to do than read fiction." He didn't read for pleasure. He read for work and he had a lot to read of his own today.

"Still no luck?" Jackson knew just what she was talking about.

"No." He wasn't even all that angry about it any longer. He had work to do to come up with a plan B. What did still have him furious was the fact that Will Sorenson had run out on him. Though that paled in comparison as to what Josh Davidson had done. He'd actually had the balls to steal a hundred million pounds from him in untraceable cash then vanish.

Those two were the absolute best he could find at finding people outside of the States. Now he was down to using two lesser guys to try and find all three of them. Or any one of them.

Will, he would just simply kill if he came back to him alive. Josh, well he would make sure he suffered and screamed for days before he killed him. As for his son, that dream was gone. He was going to literally skin his son alive and let him linger before he slowly died.

Martha's only child was Richard and now both of them were too old while in their human shape to have another one. Even he didn't dare have Martha shift to see if he could impregnate her that way for another chance. He had made being a shifter so damn dangerous that it would be suicide for either of them to shift. Not with all the staff and guards he had around each of their homes.

"You really should find time for this writer, Jackson. He's very good." Martha went back to reading her book by Richard Castle.


End file.
